No Sound, Please
by BlueSky509
Summary: Ellie and Joel are settling into life in Jackson County. Ellie gets a job taking care of the horses, but finds more than she bargained for. How do you communicate with someone who can't talk? ElliexOC, mild swearing.
1. Boys and Horses

**A/N: I haven't written anything in a very long time, so please forgive me if I'm a bit rusty. I've never done a story for The Last of Us before, so please be nice and feel free to give me any tips on characters and the like. This story takes place right after the ending cutscene on the hill near Jackson County.**

**Disclaimer: I don't own the game The Last of Us, but my OC's are mine.**

Joel swore to Ellie everything he said about the Fireflies was true, but that didn't stop her mind from dissecting his words.

"_There were others like me? The Fireflies have stopped looking for a cure? Did that mean that whole trip across country to get to St. Mary's Hospital was for nothing? Was I just about to be another failed science project?" _Ellie thought as she and Joel made their way down the hill towards Tommy's town. She felt confused. So many people had died to ensure that she was delivered safely into the hands of the Fireflies, so that she could do something to save this upside-down world, but…it didn't happen. Ellie felt like all those deaths meant nothing now that she couldn't do anything to make her immunity useful. That was the worst part. Was it really for nothing?

"Ellie, Joel, welcome back! How've you been?" The voice of Tommy pierced through her dark, clouded thoughts like a ray of sunshine. They had arrived at the main gate to the town of Jackson County, and Ellie looked up to see Tommy and Joel shake hands and clap each other on the back. Maria sauntered up behind her husband and shook Joel's hand as well. She looked over Joel's shoulder and smiled at Ellie, but it immediately disappeared.

"What's up, Ellie? You look upset." Maria frowned as she moved out from behind Joel. Ellie shook her head, saying nothing. She had too much going on inside her head, and wasn't ready to let it out.

Joel scratched the back of his head, anxious. "Tommy, can I talk to you, in private? It's important. Maria, can you take Ellie and see if there's any place we can settle down? We're not going anywhere for a while." He quickly glanced back at Ellie, and then walked off with Tommy.

Maria nodded curtly, and placed a hand on Ellie's shoulder, but she shrugged it off. She knew that tone in Joel's voice, and the discomforted look his face. They were going to talk about her. Maria seemed to know this as well and made sure to steer Ellie out of earshot of the two men as they walked towards the power plant.

As if reading her mind, Maria smirked and commented, "I'm sure they're not going to mock you behind your back, Ellie." She said playfully, to lighten up the heavy atmosphere Ellie and Joel's entrance had created. When Ellie merely gave a silent shrug, she tried not to say anything else about the subject.

The pair walked along the dirt roads of the small town, which were somewhat muddy due to the recent rain. They passed run-down houses, some with one floor, and others with two. Metal sheets covered holes in the walls or roofs. A lot had front porches, with worn, plastic lawn chairs on them. One house even had a rocking chair. None of the houses really had backyards, as none had fences, but grass was trying to grow wherever it could around the houses. People who were sitting on their porches smiled and waved to Ellie and Maria as they passed, and the former half-heartedly waved back.

"So Ellie, any idea what you want to do now that you're back in town? I know our cooks wouldn't mind having a bit more help. We make a lot more tasteful things than whatever comes out of a can these days." Maria said to break the silence between her and the fourteen-year-old girl.

Ellie thought about the offer. Cooking didn't sound very interesting to her. She'd rather retreat into her mind and think about the past couple of days, but she knew sitting around doing nothing wouldn't make anyone very happy. "I don't think so…it doesn't sound like my kind of thing." She mumbled, still taking in her surroundings. There were a lot of streets in this little town; it seemed much smaller from up on the hill. At intersections, there were even street signs. They came up to one intersection and turned right. Now they were on River St. She could see a huge building with small paddocks around it in the distance. The smell of hay and horses wafted into her nose from the place. Her eyes lit up at the memory of riding through the forest with Joel and Tommy on horseback. They dimmed again at the memory of Callis being shot and tumbling off a cliff. Pain ached through her body like a drumbeat.

The blond woman beside Ellie watched as she perked up at the sight of the barn. An idea struck her. "You still like horses?" She smirked as the young girl nodded. "Why don't you help with the horses, then? You could learn how to take care of them, even ride them once in a while. We have other animals like chickens, pigs, sheep, and even a few cows. But first, let me show you your new home." Maria halted and pointed to a one-level house that looked in decent condition. There was a metal sheet that was nailed to the roof on one side, but otherwise it was intact.

The pair stepped inside and the older woman gave Ellie a tour. "There are two bedrooms on the left side of the hallway and a bathroom on the right. There's a small office at the back and a kitchen right over there." Maria motioned to the right them, where a small table with three mismatched chairs sat next to an area with a stove, oven, sink, and fridge. They were standing in the living room, with only one couch against the wall. The living room connected to the dining area, which was adjacent to the kitchen.

"It looks great. Thanks, Maria." Ellie said sincerely as she plopped herself down on the couch. A bit of dust flew up, but otherwise the place was as clean as anyone could manage.

The blond woman was about to reply, but the walkie-talkie strapped to her belt beeped. She picked it up and snapped, "What is it?" A mixture of buzzing and a man's voice crackled through from the other end. Ellie couldn't make it out.

"Yeah, fine, I'll be there in a few. Stand by." Maria pressed a button on the handheld device and turned back to Ellie. "I've gotta go, some hunters just came back with some fresh meat and a few wounded. You'll be okay by yourself?" She asked as she turned to leave.

The redheaded girl nodded and said, "Yeah, I'll unpack my stuff and see what I can do at the barn."

The older woman gave her a small smile. "Just try not to run away with one of our horses this time, okay?" She winked as Ellie rolled her eyes a little. Maria had one foot through the door before she thought of something else to say. "Oh, if you're going to the barn, look for my nephew Jason. He's my sister Julie's son, and he's about your age. That is, the youngest one there. He knows all about horses. Well, I've got to run, so I'll see you around later." With that, she was gone, jogging down the street.

Ellie let out a deep sigh and decided to go down the hall and inspect the other rooms. The bathroom looked pretty clean, with a small sink, shower, and toilet. A medicine cabinet with a mirror on the door was above the sink. A tired, dirty, red-haired girl stared back at Ellie from behind the glass. Another unwanted thought crept into her head as she stared at her dirt-streaked face. _"Why am I allowed to live when so many others weren't? What's so damn special about me that I deserve that luxury?" _She shook her head roughly to get the thought out, and crossed the hall to see the bedrooms. The first one only had a bed and a rickety wooden chair in the corner. At least the bed looked clean and had a pillow, along with a gray blanket. An empty closet set into the wall was beside the bed. Ellie snorted, "As if I'd ever have enough clothes to fit in a closet like that."

She exited the room and went into the second bedroom right beside it. It looked essentially the same, except with a wooden desk instead of a chair in the corner. Some parts of the desk were chipped, and a drawer was missing, but it was still a pretty good desk. It even had a reading lamp on it. Ellie decided the claim the bedroom as hers and threw her backpack on the bed. She unpacked her comics and set them in a neat pile on the desk, and hung her only other gray shirt, pair of jeans, and her purple and white sweater on the hangers. With unpacking finished, she laid down on the bed for a few minutes, taking in the fact that she actually had a place to herself for once. She reminded herself that she had to go see this "Jason" kid in the barn, and got up to walk out of the room.

Ellie rummaged around in the kitchen for paper and a pen. When she found them, she scribbled down a note to Joel saying where she was. With that done, she headed out and followed the smell of horses to the stables.

When she arrived, she breathed in the scent of hay and let it calm her thoughts. Ellie counted six stalls on each side of a long aisle. She yelped in fright as something heavy dropped to the ground beside her with a loud thump. Ellie looked up to see an older man, about 40, looking sheepishly down at her.

"Sorry, little lady, didn't see ya there! Watch your head; I'll be throwing down more of this stuff! Horses gotta eat, ya know?" The older man chuckled as he set his pitchfork down.

Ellie looked at what the man had thrown down. It was half of a bale of hay. It smelled fresh, too. "Yeah, umm…hi. Do you know where I could find Jason? Maria told me he could give me a job here. I'm Ellie, by the way." The man seemed friendly enough to tell him her name, and if he lived here, why not?

The man smiled down and began to move along the second level of the barn, forking hay down to the level below as he spoke. "Name's Shane. Jason's my son. Pleased to meet ya, Ellie. Jason's out in the paddock behind the barn, lunging one of our fillies. He'll have some work for ya. Ever mucked out a stall before?"

The red-haired girl spent about a minute trying to decipher what Shane just said. "He's doing what with who now? What's does mucking mean?" She asked, her face screwing up in complete confusion. If this was horse-talk, she needed a dictionary.

Shane laughed heartily, setting down his pitchfork and sitting on the edge on the upper floor, swinging his legs. "I see we've got a lot to teach ya about horses! Mucking means the same thing as cleaning. See those empty stalls? You need to clean out all the dung and soiled straw, and put it in that wheelbarrow you see over there." He pointed to a red wheelbarrow in the middle of the aisle. It had a pitchfork leaning against it. "Lunging is…well, you'll figure it out once you see it. A filly is a young female horse. Jason's training her to be a riding horse. Go through the door at the end there; he'll be happy to have some help. Also, he's not really a talker…just let him show you how to do things. Thanks for the help, Ellie." Shane's cheery expression darkened on the last phrase, and he got up to continue forking hay.

Ellie waved him goodbye and headed down the aisle, pushing open the heavy doors at the end. There was a lot more space behind the barn that she thought. Every paddock was divided with a hastily constructed combination of wood and wires. Hens ran to and fro, pecking at the muddy grass for seeds and whatever else they could find. Two horses and a cow grazed on hay in the paddock to her right. A third horse looked at her curiously from a smaller paddock to her left. It snorted, and finding her no longer interesting, went back to eating the hay at its feet.

"Hello to you, too." The redhead mumbled sarcastically at the uninterested horse. She turned her attention to a circular paddock in front of her as she heard the quickening of hoof beats. A black horse with white splotches all over it threw its head up as it went into a trot. A saddle was strapped to its back, and it was clearly uncomfortable with it being there. It tried to buck, but never succeeded in throwing off the saddle.

Ellie was amazed and also afraid of the power of the animal as she slowly approached the circular ring. The boy in the middle was holding a long whip and had the filly trotting in circles, attached to her halter was a long rope that he held in his free hand. He had short, dark brown hair, brown eyes, and a lanky build. He encouraged the filly with nods, but made no vocal encouragement. He didn't notice Ellie as she climbed up the high wooden fence and sat on top of it, careful not to lose her balance.

"Hey, there. You're Jason, right? I'm Ellie. Your dad said you can teach me about horses." Ellie introduced herself, unknowingly startling the boy. He spun around in surprise, accidentally flinging his whip to the ground. The filly started at the potential projectile and broke into a gallop, kicking up mud while Jason tried to calm her down. After about four circles, she finally slowed to a standstill. Jason walked up to her and patted her shoulder, while he narrowed his eyes at Ellie.

The young girl scratched her head in embarrassment. "Sorry, didn't mean to scare you guys…Umm, you are Jason, right?"

Jason nodded as he folded up the lunge line. He picked up the whip and handed it to Ellie, who had gotten down from her perch on the fence. She took it and opened the gate for the pair. The boy and his horse walked out and back to the barn. Ellie followed, feeling a bit awkward that he wasn't saying anything. He was probably the silent type, she figured. Lots of people around here had reason to shut their mouths. She sure did. Pleasant conversation couldn't be harmful, though.

The dark-haired boy clipped two long, thin chains that were attached to the wall to the halter on the horse's head. He unclipped the lunge line and handed it to Ellie, who hung it on one of the hooks beside a stall. He then proceeded to take the saddle off, also handing it to Ellie.

She almost dropped the heavy saddle. "Jeez, this thing is heavy! I feel bad for the horse!" Ellie protested as she shifted the saddle to get a better grip. Jason rolled his eyes and pointed to a small room near the door they had come through. "Take it there? Okay." She confirmed and walked past him to the room. Inside, there were three more saddles sitting on triangular, wooden posts jutting out from the wall. She gladly placed her load on an empty post. Ellie looked around the small room. A wooden cabinet sat against the wall to her left. Buckets with brushes and some other things she couldn't name were lined up against another wall. Halters and other things that looked like they fit on a horse's head hung on hooks above them. She remembered Joel called them bridles. The saddles hung on their posts on the wall to her right.

Ellie heard a door being closed and a few moments later, Jason walked into the room. He pushed passed her in the cramped space, causing her to complain, "Hey, at least you could say 'excuse me' or something. No need to be so rude."

Jason ignored her comment and motioned to the saddle she had placed on the post. The redhead looked at it, and then back to Jason. "I don't see the problem. I know you're not a talker, but this is getting ridiculous. Just tell me what's wrong." She placed her hands on her hips in frustration. Why wouldn't he just say something?

The dark-haired boy pulled the sweaty pad out from under the saddle, flipping it over and laying it on top so it could dry. He then looked Ellie in the eye and raised his chin up. A short, jagged, pink scar ran the width of his windpipe. Ellie gasped in shock.

He didn't talk because he _couldn't_.


	2. Runaway

"Oh fuck, what happened? How are you not dead?" Ellie exclaimed as she processed the crude scar on Jason's neck. Whoever had cut his neck was really close to cutting his jugular vein, as well. She raised her hands in mock surrender as Jason replied with a harsh, cold stare. "Sorry…again. It's just…the neck is a really weird place for a scar. It usually means something horrible happened to you." That just earned her another cold stare from the dark-haired boy. Ellie felt intimidated because he was a good foot taller than her. She figured it was high time she shut her mouth.

Jason let a puff of air escape from his nose; his way of sighing. He stalked out of the room and into the aisle. Ellie naturally followed him. "Hey, wait! Aren't you-" the young girl stopped dead in her tracks as Jason spun on his heel and roughly grabbed her shoulder with one hand. She froze at the contact, waiting anxiously for his next move. He didn't seem like a violent person, but past experiences have taught her looks can be deceiving. Ellie stared back at him this time, gauging his stony expression.

The boy quickly let go of her and stepped back, taking a deep breath. Ellie had enough sense to keep quiet and let him calm down. He inclined his head towards the barrel with the pitchfork. The redhead nodded and went to go pick it up and then looked expectantly at Jason, who was already opening the door to an empty stall. Ellie brought the wheelbarrow over and started sifting clean straw from dung and dumping it into the wheelbarrow, just like Shane told her.

"Ugh, it smells like shit…Oh wait, it is." Ellie complained as the stench of urine and horse manure entered her nose. Taking care of horses wasn't as much fun as she thought it would be. She heard a rapid series of breaths from behind her and turned around to see Jason covering his mouth with a fist, trying to hide a knowing smile. "So you go from ready to punch me to laughing at me? What kind of person are you?" The red-haired girl accused, taking her turn to stare him down.

Jason coughed and composed himself, crossing his thin arms over his plaid, dark green shirt. He leaned against the stall door until Ellie was finished her work, and then looked from the wheelbarrow to her. Jason turned away and strode towards the back entrance to the barn, expecting Ellie to follow him. She got the message and picked up the wheelbarrow's handles, trundling it after him. He led her outside, past the circular arena, and out to a sizeable heap of manure. Ellie dumped it and followed the lanky boy back to the barn, taking the wheelbarrow with her.

"Boy, this is hard work. You do this stuff everyday with your dad?" The young girl asked as she gladly set the wheelbarrow down.

Jason nodded and hooked his thumbs into the front pockets of his worn jeans, furrowing his brow. He thought for a moment, and then motioned for Ellie to follow him. He walked over to one of the stalls and peered inside. His charge did the same, but backed up when she noticed something huge moving inside. Jason didn't seem fazed at all, and pulled a small carrot from his pocket. Ellie watched in fascination as the creature munched on the treat, leaves and all.

She squinted through the darkened stall and breathed, "That's a _horse_? It's giant! What kind of horse gets that big?" Ellie cautiously approached the animal as it nickered for another carrot.

The dark-haired boy shrugged and patted the horse's nose. He seemed to have a fondness for the big animal. In turn, the horse gently nibbled his hand with its lips in appreciation of the treat.

"Uhh…what's its name? Does it have one?" Ellie asked after a short silence.

Jason turned around and pursed his lips, thinking. He then spread his hand in front of his face, before closing his fist again. Ellie cocked her head, confused. "I don't follow…what's that supposed to mean?"

"He means to say her name is Beauty. She's our plough horse. I think they used to call these horses Clydesdales." Shane explained as he walked up the aisle with the last bale of hay in his arms. "My son sometimes uses sign language, but just like any other language, you gotta learn it. His mother taught it to him. She's deaf, you know. Maria knows sign language, too." He said as Jason opened Beauty's stall door and the older man threw in the bale of hay.

Ellie's eyes lit up. She had never met a deaf person, but she always wondered how people who couldn't hear or talk communicated with others. "That's so cool! Maybe you could teach me?" She bounced up and down on the balls of her feet in excitement. Jason silently chuckled, and nodded.

The redhead cracked a smile for the first time in what felt like weeks. It always excited her to take on a challenge and learn something new. Shane also smiled, "I think that's a good idea. Once you get to know him, Jason can be a real chatter-box sometimes. Why don't you two take a break? We're done for now." He walked past the pair and exited the barn, heading towards the houses.

Jason looked past Ellie and squinted at something in the distance. He nudged his charge to get her attention, and pointed to whatever he was looking at. Ellie, in turn, also looked in the same direction, noticing two familiar figures walking up the street. It was Joel and Tommy. Tommy must have been showing his brother the new house.

"Hey, I'll see you later, okay? I need to talk to Joel." The young girl didn't wait for a reply as she jogged out of the barn and in the direction of Tommy and his older sibling.

* * *

"You've got to tell Ellie the truth sometime, Joel. It's not fair to keep leading her on. She needs to know." Tommy advised his brother, not noticing Ellie jogging up to them. Her expression darkened as she overheard the snippet of conversation.

The redhead glanced from Tommy to Joel, and narrowed her eyes at the latter. "You need to tell me the truth about what, Joel?"

Joel's mouth was set in a thin line, his expression unreadable, as usual. "Not now, Ellie, it's…it's not the right time." He struggled to find the words that might deter her prying, but he knew it wouldn't work. He wasn't ready to tell her the truth yet.

"Joel, I'm not a kid anymore! I can take the truth, whatever it is!" Ellie said defiantly, crossing her arms over her chest. She thought for a moment before the realization dawned on her. "It's about the Fireflies, isn't it?"

Joel didn't answer, and couldn't meet Ellie's accusing eyes. A short, unbearable silence stretched between them, and it was broken by the young girl. "You _lied _to me. You swore it was true, Joel! You swore!" Her raised voice broke, and the guilt came flooding back. She _could_ have saved people. He stole that from her.

"Ellie, it's not what you think, they-" The older man didn't get a chance to finish his explanation because Ellie was already sprinting back to the barn. "Oh no…no, no. Ellie!" Joel shouted after her. If he could guess what she was going to do, she was going to steal another horse and charge out of here.

Tommy started to run after her, but his brother stopped him. "I'll take care of this. It's my fault." Joel stated, and ran after Ellie. When he arrived at the entrance to the barn, Jason was on the ground, spitting out straw. "Where'd she go?" Joel demanded of him. Jason pointed to the back entrance of the barn, which had stayed open. He picked himself up and ran alongside Joel.

Unfortunately, Ellie had beaten them to the horses. She had already gotten a halter on one; a copper-coloured horse with white patches. Ellie didn't bother getting a saddle and quickly hopped on, using the lead rope to steer the horse out of the paddock. She was already cantering by the time Joel and Jason reached the door. They jumped out of the way as the horse sped past them in a blur, with Ellie hunched over its neck.

"We've got to stop her! Boy, can you get a horse ready for me? I'm going after her. You know the woods around here?" Joel asked the younger boy. Jason nodded, and went to go fetch a bridle, girth, saddle, and saddle pad.

Once another horse was tacked up, a bay horse this time, Jason mounted the animal and Joel settled himself behind him. Jason dug his heels into the horse's side and it responded by picking up a canter. They sped past Tommy, who pointed in the direction Ellie had gone. Once they had reached the gate, they saw that it was already open; someone had come in and didn't close the gate in time before Ellie reached it. A group of guards was also being assembled to search for Ellie. Maria was shouting orders, and the guards made room for Joel and Jason before rushing out into the woods themselves, armed with shotguns and rifles.

When they had cleared the gate, Jason urged his horse into a gallop. Joel shouted Ellie's name repeatedly, but with no reply. They followed the fresh horse tracks until they could see glimpses of brown and white between the trees: Ellie's horse. Thankfully, she was still holding on, even at a full gallop.

* * *

"_I've got to get away, away from Joel, away from everybody. I can't believe he lied; I could have saved people…Riley, Tess, Sam…but they died because I was too late. I shouldn't even be alive! How many more people are going to die because of me?"_ These and many more thoughts raced through Ellie's head as she thundered through the forest. She heard another horse's hoof beats behind hers, and she knew it was probably Joel. She dared to glance behind her and saw both Jason and Joel gaining on her. Ellie kicked her horse to go faster, and it threw its head up in protest, but picked up the pace nonetheless.

"Ellie, stop! Pull up!" Joel shouted once he was within earshot. Either Ellie didn't hear him, or she was choosing to ignore him, because she did neither.

Joel felt the horse slowing down. He didn't know if it was from exhaustion, or if Jason was doing it on purpose. He looked past Jason's shoulder and his voice took on a new urgency. They were heading straight for a heap of fallen trees, too tall to jump over, and there was no telling what was on the other side. "Ellie, stop! You're going to crash!" Joel yelled, hoping she would hear him.

Ellie turned her head in confusion at the last phrase, her head tucked against her horse's neck. Fortunately, the horse saw the obstacle before she did and tried to put on the brakes. It reared with a shrill whinny before it could hit the trees, sending Ellie flying off its back with a scream and onto the ground. Thankfully, the horse had enough sense not to stomp on its fallen rider as it came back down.

Jason slowed the horse to a trot before Joel vaulted off and ran towards Ellie, crumpled on the ground at her horse's feet. The horse seemed apologetic for throwing its rider, as it was gently nudging her with its muzzle.

Joel knelt down beside Ellie, scooping her up into his arms. "Ellie? Can you hear me?" He said softly, gently shaking her limp form. She responded with a weak moan, opening her eyes a little.

When her vision cleared, Ellie admitted she was happy to see her guardian. "Joel…? I'm sorry…" She whispered, taking small gasps of air to alleviate her winded state.

"No…I'm sorry. I shouldn't have lied to you, Ellie. I'll tell you everything once we get back, alright? No more lying, I promise." The older man vowed. "Can you walk?" He asked, checking her for injuries.

The redhead winced as she tried to move her right ankle. "I think my right ankle's busted. It hurts a lot." She said as she gave up on moving it.

Joel furrowed his brow, looking for anything to make a splint with. He found a couple of thicker branches from the pile of trees and snapped them to the proper size for Ellie's leg, removing the leaves. He shed his pale green shirt, revealing a gray t-shirt underneath. He bound the splint together with it, but frowned when he realized it wouldn't hold for very long. Joel looked around for more materials, and felt a tap on his shoulder. Jason was standing behind him, holding out the reins from his horse's bridle.

"Thanks, boy. What's your name?" Joel asked as he accepted the reins and bound Ellie's splint securely with them. He was going to ask again when Jason didn't answer, but Ellie spoke for him.

"His name's Jason. He uhh…can't talk." The young girl supplied as Joel tied the reins into a knot.

Her guardian raised an eyebrow, finding the information surprising. "Can't talk? You mute, Jason?" He asked as he hoisted Ellie up onto the horse with a saddle. Jason, as usual, nodded silently. His expression darkened for a moment, but it passed as he thought of an idea. Just as Joel was about to mount in front of Ellie, the young boy tapped Joel's shoulder. He pointed to the brown and white horse.

"What? You want me to ride that one? Why?" The older man questioned, his tone defensive.

"I think he knows this area better than you, Joel…Plus, I don't think you can control a horse too well without reins. Can I ride with Jason? Please?" Ellie drew out the last word in a sweet voice. Jason gave her a thumbs-up and a small smile. The red-haired girl's lips twitched upward in response, but only for a second. Then they went back to their usual straight line.

Joel considered the situation for a moment, and gave in. "Fine. We've come so far, I have no idea how to get back. But don't try anything funny with my baby girl, boy." He growled at Jason before going to mount the second horse.

Jason gave Joel a mock salute, and then mounted the bay horse, being careful to avoid kicking Ellie. Once settled, he urged the horse into a trot, causing the girl sitting behind him to wrap her arms around his torso to stay on the horse. He had to admit he liked the feeling, and was glad Joel couldn't see the small smile playing on his lips.

The trio ran into some guards on their way back, and seeing that Ellie had been found, they radioed other members the news and began to regroup, trailing behind the horses. The ride was much longer than Ellie had thought it would be. She had no idea how much ground they had covered until now. She decided to make conversation as best as she could with Jason to pass the time.

"Do you ride out here a lot, Jason?" Ellie queried. The boy in front of her responded by holding up a fist and making a knocking motion. Having no idea what that meant, the redhead asked, "Is that a yes or no?" Jason replied with a thumbs-up. "Okay, knocking means yes. What's 'no' in sign language?" Ellie questioned for future reference.

Jason raised his thumb, index, and middle fingers on one hand, and touched them together. Ellie let out an 'aha' and they settled back into silence.

After a few minutes, the redhead asked again, "How long have you lived in Jackson County?"

Jason held up his index finger, and then held up both fists so she could see, and rotated them around each other. Ellie cocked her head. "Uhh… oh, let me guess. One month?" That earned her a 'no' from Jason. She tried again. "One year?" Jason replied with a yes. "Wow, that's a long time. When you arrived here, I was still in Boston…Any siblings?" Ellie asked, enjoying the conversation with Jason. It was actually quite easy to talk with him, as long as it was simple questions.

The dark-haired boy replied with a no, meaning he was an only child. Ellie wondered if he had been like that for his whole life. Chances were, he might have had siblings at one point, but they might have gotten separated, infected, or killed. She thought he was lucky that he had arrived with both parents; most kids didn't even _have_ parents anymore.

Ellie looked up between the trees and noticed that it was already getting dark. She could see that the sky was streaked with orange and pink beyond the canopy, and a cold, evening breeze had picked up. She shivered, and tightened her grip around Jason's torso. All the adrenaline that had coursed through her body during her wild ride had been used up, leaving her feeling worn out and sleepy.

"Do you mind? I'm kinda tired out." The young girl asked Jason as she rested her head on his back. She saw him sign for no, and nestled her head higher, on the back of his shoulder. Within a few minutes, the rhythm of the horse and Jason's breathing lulled her to sleep.


	3. The Truth

**A/N: As you can see, I've decided to use American Sign Language (ASL) as Jason's main form of communication. I don't actually know the language, but I thought it would be a cool idea as not many people feature mute and/or deaf people as characters in their stories. Anyway, with the consideration that I don't know ASL, please don't flame me if I screw any signs or grammar up. Big thanks to Awkward Alex who's helping me out with this language! :D Don't forget to leave a comment!  
**

Sleeping wasn't easy for Ellie. Faces kept flashing by. Tess', Sam's, all the people she killed, their faces frozen in one last scream. One face would materialize into the next, over and over. These people would never see their families again, if they had any left. They wouldn't get to see another sunrise, or sunset. They would never see their friends and comrades again. Did they really need to die? It was them or her, Ellie kept telling herself. That didn't stop the guilt from turning dreams into nightmares. The final battle with David kept replaying in her foggy mind, the fear paralyzing her limbs and making her think one thing: kill, or be killed.

Ellie felt like she was falling for a second, before she woke with a start. Joel's face came into focus, and she realized he was carrying her now. "We're back already?" The young girl asked groggily, wiping the sleep from her eyes. She glanced around, and saw that night had truly fallen now. The stars could be seen scattered across the black sky, twinkling like a billion tiny suns.

"Yeah, we're home, baby girl. We got some discussing to do, but that'll have to wait until morning. Right now it's time to sleep." Joel said gruffly. He yawned as Ellie wrapped her arms around his neck to ease the amount of weight on his arms.

Ellie looked at Jason, who was just dismounting his horse. He crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes as if he was saying, "What do you have to say for yourself?"

The redhead sighed, getting the message. "Yeah, I know that was pretty stupid, but then again, you're not me. You don't know what I'm going through." She stated coldly.

Jason signed 'no', and gave her a sympathetic look. He touched his fingertips to his chin, and then patted something imaginary on his wrist, like he was patting the sun good night.

Ellie guessed, "Good night?" Jason nodded and gave her a wave, before grabbing the lead rope of one horse and the bridle of the other. "Hey, wait." Ellie called softly after him. The boy turned around, raising an eyebrow. "Thanks for coming after me…are you mad at me for stealing a horse?"

The dark-haired boy made a fist and rubbed his thumb and index finger together, and Ellie nodded. "A little, huh? I expected that…would you be mad if I showed up tomorrow?"

Before he could answer, Joel cut in. "You're not going anywhere until that ankle of yours is healed up. No horses for you, young lady. You're grounded."

Ellie groaned in protest, and Jason frowned. He snapped his fingers to get the pair's attention. Jason pointed to the house, then to himself. He then pointed a thumb at himself, and gave a thumbs-up gesture. "I didn't get the last part…you want to come inside, and then what?" The redhead furrowed her brow. Jason sighed, drawing a small notepad and a stubby pencil from his back pocket, using the saddle to write on. Ellie figured he used it a lot with people who didn't know sign language.

Jason ripped the note off the pad and gave it to her, unknowingly giving the pencil as well. The young girl squinted in the darkness, and read it out loud. "Can I come here tomorrow?" Her face lit up as she understood. "Oh, I get it now! Pointing at something, then yourself means come. That thumb thing means tomorrow, right?"

The boy gave her a so-so gesture, and looked hopefully at Joel. The older man considered the offer for a moment. He shook his head, his mouth set in its usual line. "Sorry, I said she's grounded. No friends, no horses, no nothing." He said with finality.

Jason's shoulders dropped, he waved Ellie goodbye, and walked back to the barn with the horses. He stopped as he felt something hit the back of his shoulder. Bending down, he picked up his crumpled note and pencil, shoving them in his pocket. After he had turned the horses out, the dark-haired boy took out the crumpled piece of paper, and discovered someone scrawled on the back of it.

"_Come to house tomorrow. 7 p.m. Joel will be out of house, I'll make sure."_

Jason smiled as he put the note back in his pocket. Tomorrow was going to be a good day.

* * *

Ellie awoke to the smell of frying eggs the next morning. Her stomach growled with hunger, and she removed the blankets from her body. She was still in her checkered red jacket and jeans. Her right ankle was still in its makeshift splint. Ellie got out of bed and hobbled to the door, careful not to put pressure on her right leg.

"What's for breakfast?" The redhead asked as she used the wall as a crutch to get herself to the table. Joel practically radiated anxiety as he walked over with two plates, each with one over-easy egg and two strips of bacon. "This is a feast! Where'd this come from?" Ellie asked as he tore into her breakfast.

"The neighbours brought a house-warming gift. Turns out that boy Jason's family lives two houses over. His mother brought over a basket with eggs, bacon strips, and a few apples. Her husband was with her and said it could also be considered as payment for your work yesterday." Joel said gruffly as he bit into his bacon.

The young girl nodded. "What's Jason's mom like?"

Joel thought for a moment, trying to find the best words to describe the woman. "Quiet. Seems like a kind enough lady. Pretty sure she can't hear, though. She uses her hands to talk." He summarized, chewing his egg.

"She _is _deaf, Joel. Shane told me yesterday." Ellie said, finishing her breakfast. "Don't talk with your mouth full, either." She added curtly, placing her fork on her plate to signify she was done.

The young girl's tone surprised the old man. "What's up with…oh, right. We have to talk. I'll take these away so you can't throw anything at me." He said half-seriously as he gathered up the plates and utensils, putting them in the sink.

"Now, where to begin…" Joel furrowed his brow; his age seemed to skip ahead ten years in the span of a second.

"The hospital. What happened?" Ellie demanded, sitting back in her wooden chair and crossing her arms.

"They put you to sleep, and they were going to operate on you. I couldn't let them." Joel replied, thinking back to the surgeon's recording and pinching the bridge of his nose.

"What were they going to do?" The redhead asked cautiously, leaning forward.

The older man sighed heavily before answering, "Marlene said they were going to reverse engineer a vaccine. Then I found out that the only way they could do that was to slice open your head and take out your brain, to examine the mutated fungus that made you immune."

Ellie let the information sink in for a moment. A short silence stretched between them, and it was broken by the young girl. "So they were going to kill me. Joel, what's one life when hundreds could have been saved? I could've been the _cure_! Plus, my life had already gone to shit; it would have been a favor."

"That's not true, and you know it. What if they did create a cure, what then? You think they haven't already tried? You think you're the only one on this goddamned planet who is immune to being infected? It would have been just another thing to control people with, Ellie! Is that what you want?" Joel's voice raised a fraction, and he caught himself before he could start shouting.

Ellie looked down, frowning. "No…people are desperate enough as they are. But Joel…then what was it all for? I'm no use to anyone now; I'm just a good-for-nothing killer that can't get infected. What's the point of that? What's the point of anything now? All I see is the faces of the people I've killed, and the ones I couldn't save." Her eyes stung, thinking about all of the good people who were lost on the way to nowhere.

"What if you did save someone? If you could have saved one person on this whole journey, would everything have been worth it?" Joel rested his forearms on the table, expectant.

The red-haired girl thought for a moment. "Life is precious…it's snuffed out in the blink of an eye these days. So yeah, I guess it would have been worth it."

Joel was silent for a moment. "Well, then you're looking at the one person you saved." He said, looking Ellie in the eye as she picked her head up.

"I…I saved you? You took me from that hospital because you couldn't stand losing the one person who saved your ass? You selfish bastard." Ellie replied with a grin. "I'm glad I got stuck with you. Dad."

The old man smiled back for the first time in what felt like years. "Yeah, it was selfish of me, wasn't it? I couldn't bear it if I had to live without you. It wouldn't have been living, anyway. It would have just been…not dying. Or getting as close to not dying as possible." Joel reached across the table to squeeze Ellie's hand. "I'll have to get used to the name change, baby girl, but I like it." He chuckled, letting go of her hand.

The young girl fell silent for a moment, gazing out the front window of the house. "Marlene's dead, isn't she? They all are, aren't they?" Her tone was soft, distant.

Joel bit his lip. He said nothing. He didn't need to. Ellie let out a shaky breath. "Oh fuck, Joel…"

"I didn't have a choice, Ellie. Don't think you're the only one who's going through something. I feel just as guilty as you do. Maybe even more…" The older man trailed off, looking down at his hands.

"So what do we do now? We both feel like the guilt is going to tear us apart, and we know we can't change anything. How do you deal with shit like that?" Ellie said somberly, letting out a heavy sigh.

"It'll get better with time. Stuff like what you went through doesn't just go away now that you're safe again. Now tell me, what the hell possessed you to take off like that yesterday?" Joel's tone turned from serious to irritated.

The redhead shrugged. "I was just…mad. I needed to get away, figure stuff out by myself. A horse was the best way to do that. It seemed like a good idea at the time. I would've come back…eventually."

Joel raised an eyebrow. "You would have run away for an unknown period of time, with no food, water, or means to defend yourself? Does that sound like a good idea now? Do you _know _what could have happened-" He crossed his arms with a frown, but was cut off by a knock at the door.

"Come in!" Ellie shouted, and the door opened to reveal a not-so-chipper Tommy.

"What's the problem, Tommy?" Joel made to stand up, but Tommy held a hand out to stop him.

"Nothing, I just had a rough morning. I came to check on Ellie. I heard you had a broken ankle, little lady. Do you want to get it properly splinted?" The younger sibling of the two men gave her a stern look, which didn't fit well with his usually bright demeanor.

"Yeah, I think I could do with a good splint. Joel needs his shirt back." Ellie said non-chalantly as Tommy went to pick her up. He turned to Joel with Ellie in his arms. "I'll have her back in a jiffy. Oh, by the way, I need you on patrol tonight in the turbine room. Think you can handle it?" He said carefully, gauging Joel's expression.

Tommy's older brother nodded. "What time?"

"At dinnertime, about 6:00. You'll have a three-hour shift." Tommy replied, turning towards the door.

"Keep her on a short leash! She's a sneaky girl, that one!" The older of the two men shouted as the door closed. He heard Ellie laugh sarcastically. Inside, she was rejoicing at the fact that she could meet with Jason for two whole hours.

* * *

As Ellie was carried by Tommy to the infirmary, the latter started up a conversation to pass the time on the long walk. "You do know you're banned from the barn until further notice, right?" Tommy spoke, picking up a brisk walk.

"Yeah, Joel already grounded me. It's not like I could go anywhere though, huh?" The redhead snorted, glancing at the sky. It was a bright blue, without a cloud to be seen. The sun shone brightly, and it was already getting hot. Small birds chirped from the roofs of houses, and she could hear a dog barking on the next street over.

Tommy chuckled, and fell silent. After a few minutes, he spoke, "Maria was really worried about you, you know. She wouldn't stop fretting until you came back. Said you looked cute, all cozied up to Jason." He flashed a knowing smile, earning a light thump on the back of his shoulder. "Hey, her words, not mine. Plus, the poor boy could use a friend. He works all day in the barn, from dawn until dusk. I never saw him hang out with any kids his age in the year he's lived here."

Ellie furrowed her brow. "What happened to him, Tommy?"

The brown-haired man sighed, gaze becoming distant. "It's not my story to tell, Ellie. You'll have to pry that out of him yourself. All I can say is, he's been through some rough stuff, just like you, just like anyone else here." He explained vaguely. He carried her in silence until they reached the infirmary, which was a warehouse that had half of it converted into a hospital ward, or as close to one as the citizens of Jackson County could make it. There were 20 beds in all, with white sheets and curtains for privacy. A few men slept on the beds, legs or arms bandaged. _"They must have been the hunters from yesterday."_ Ellie determined.

Tommy set her on a bed and began to untie the reins and shirt that held the split together. He took Ellie's boot and sock off as gently as he could, and examined her ankle. Ellie looked down at it, and grimaced at the amount of swelling. She winced as he prodded it with his fingertips.

"Actually…I don't think it's broken. It just feels like a bad sprain. I'll get a splint and some ice for you, okay?" The younger man said as he got up. Ellie winced as the moving mattress shifted her injured ankle. She gazed up at the ceiling while she waited, noticing the slightly rusted metal. Even things meant to last forever don't last that long.

It wasn't long before Joel's younger brother came back with a pack of ice, a plastic splint, two pillows, and thick bandages. He propped up Ellie's ankle with the pillows, and carefully placed the ice on her ankle. "That should do it for now, just keep that on for about half an hour or so. Then we'll put everything else on. You're going to have to ice it every three or four hours, depending on how much the swelling goes down. You're lucky you didn't break anything. First time I rode a horse, it bucked me off and I broke my arm. That's how I met Maria, oddly enough." Tommy chuckled at the memory.

"Can you tell me the story? Maria never did." Ellie asked, eager to hear how the pair met.

Tommy sat back, scratching the back of his head, unsure. He looked at Ellie again, who was giving him puppy-dog eyes. "Alright, I'll tell you. Everybody else knows it, anyway. Well, except for Joel." He gave in, pulling up a stool. "About five years ago, I ended up here after leaving the Fireflies. I earned my keep as a sentry, helped out with patrols, hunted to provide food, you name it; I did it. Then, I saw this _beautiful_ woman, who happened to be in charge of training the horses. So I thought, 'hey, there's a job I haven't done before: training horses. I might just get me a date as a bonus." He stopped as he felt a hand on his shoulder.

Maria had walked up to them, smirking. "Telling the girl how we met, huh? I'll take it from here. In any case, this idiot thought he could train one of the wildest colts we had at the time. We still have him, and use him for breeding. Anyway, Tommy here got on the horse, and it threw him so high, I thought he was going to clear the roof-" She got cut off by Tommy.

"Now, now, no need to exaggerate. I only got thrown over the fence...which was about seven feet high. I broke my arm, and couldn't use it for six weeks. Maria was so impressed I survived without cracking my head like an egg, she asked if I'd like to work with her. Not training horses, of course. The rest is history. Isn't that right, honey?" The brown-haired man smiled at his wife, who shoved him playfully.

"Your skull is so thick, I'm sure _nothing _could break it. You make it seem like working with you was a walk in the park. Not only were you incompetent at riding, I had to teach you _everything_. You spent most of your day on the catwalk beside the barn roof, watching the clouds pass by." Maria snorted, shaking her head.

Tommy chuckled, "Don't forget making out with you behind the barn. _That _was the only thing I didn't get my ass kicked for doing."

The blond woman rolled her eyes. "Shut up, Tommy. I still kick your ass for doing nothing. Anyway, I've gotta go. This place isn't going to run itself." She turned on her heel was stalked out of the infirmary. Ellie swore Maria was blushing slightly as she left.

Tommy laughed again. "Yep, that's how we met. We got married a year after my little stunt. Best decision I ever made. You keep that ice on until that clock hits half-past, okay? I've got some errands to attend to." He pointed to the round analog clock on the wall in front of Ellie. It was almost 10:00. Tommy got up and left the warehouse, waving Ellie goodbye.

The redhead sighed, thinking about Tommy's story. She never knew Maria trained horses. She made a mental note to ask her for tips, so Jason could use them. In the meantime, she thought about the dark-haired boy. Tommy said he didn't have many friends. It seemed odd, since he was so likable. Maybe it was because he couldn't talk that he didn't have any friends? There seemed to be something amiss. How could you go a whole year without making friends with anyone? _"He must have been really lonely…there has to be a reason, though."_ Ellie thought, scrunching her brow. Maybe there were rumors about him because he couldn't speak? Even after the Apocalypse, kids could still be pretty mean. She had firsthand experience with _that._

Half-an-hour later Tommy came back and splinted Ellie's ankle. She had to admit it felt much more secure than the previous one. The younger man gave her a crutch and she was on her way back to her house. While limping along, she ran into a few girls who were walking down the street. They looked about her age. They waved to her and she waved back with a small smile. The three girls stopped to talk with her.

"Hey, I haven't seen you around here before. What's your name?" One of the girls asked. She had long, blonde hair braided down her back, and wore a faded blue T-shirt with a dolphin on it, or what was left of it. Her denim jeans had a few holes in them, as did her running shoes. Her blue eyes sparkled with happiness, though. They darkened as they rested on Ellie's ankle. "Oh, what happened to your ankle?" She asked worriedly.

"My name's Ellie. I uhh…fell off a horse. What's your name?" The red-haired girl asked in reply.

"My name's Hailey. This is Rachel, and that's Katie. Want to hang out with us?" The blonde girl pointed to a brunette standing beside her, and then to a girl with black hair, who definitely didn't look American. Ellie identified her as Chinese.

"That would be great, but I can't. Maybe some other time?" The redhead looked apologetic, and mentally swore at Joel for grounding her.

"That sounds like a plan, then! Nice meeting you, Ellie!" Katie said as she and the others waved goodbye, and continued walking down the dirt street, chatting animatedly to each other.

Ellie sighed and hobbled the rest of the way to her and Joel's house. She plopped down on the couch, gingerly placing her injured ankle on the couch's arm. She noticed that Joel was nowhere to be found. "Joel? Dad?" Ellie called out, concern washing over her at the seemingly empty house.

"In here, Ellie!" The older man called from the office at the end of the hall. He strode out of the room, and pulled up a chair next to her. "How're you feeling?" Joel asked, inclining his head towards her ankle.

Ellie let out a puff of air. "Not bad. Tommy just said I had a bad sprain. I'm supposed to ice my ankle every three hours." She summarized. "Oh, I met these three girls on my way back. I couldn't hang out with them because I was grounded, though." The young girl said moodily, giving Joel a dark look.

"Well, actions have consequences. Listen, I have to go stock up on food, especially ice for that ankle of yours. Did you know we have plumbing, and water? Tommy runs a damn good place here. We can actually keep stuff cold in the fridge." Joel looked optimistic for once as he left the house. "I'll be back in an hour, and I expect you to be here when I come back." He said sternly as he stepped over the threshold.

Ellie sighed, gazing up once more at the ceiling. There were a few cracks in the wood that let the sun shine through, but nothing else was interesting. She looked out the window, watching people stroll by, some with children, and others alone. Pretty soon she felt her eyelids growing heavy, and drifted off into a light sleep.


	4. Evening Visit

_Ellie…_

_Ellie…_

_Ellie, wake up…_

Ellie heard someone calling her name from the depths of her sleep. She slowly opened her eyes to see Joel shaking her awake. "Huh? What time is it?" She asked, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. The redhead yawned and stretched her arms over her head.

"It's lunchtime. Had a nice nap?" Joel assumed, straightening up and walking over to the kitchen. He came back as Ellie folded her arms behind her head, propping it up.

"Yeah, no nightmares or anything. What's this?" She queried, eyeing the plate Joel brought over. It had a sandwich on it.

"Ham, lettuce, and butter on rye. Eat up, you need your strength." The older man handed her the plate and she bit into the sandwich.

Ellie savoured the flavours; they were something she hadn't tasted in a long time: real food. "This is good! What else did you get?" She questioned as she swallowed.

Joel shrugged. "Whatever they had to offer, I guess. A loaf of bread, a decent piece of ham, some cheese, a few vegetables. We could have stir fry for dinner, if you want. People don't seem to like beans here very much…"

The redhead furrowed her brow. "They probably had every form of canned beans on their way here, that's why. Even I'm not too crazy about bean stir fry, and I don't even know what stir fry is." She commented as Joel went to unpack his groceries. Apparently he had just come in.

The old man grunted at her explanation. "A stir fry is just a mix of vegetables in a pot. You're right; I got sick of canned beans a long time ago. Maybe we could use the cheese to spruce it up? What do you think we could do with a zucchini?" He asked, holding up said vegetable to examine it.

"I got so accustomed to the easiness of opening cans and getting instant food, I've lost all creativity for the art of cooking. Woe is me." Ellie responded with mock sadness.

Joel bit back a smirk. The girl could be so dramatic sometimes. It was one of the things that made her so fun to be around. "Wallowing in sorrow is not going to help me get ideas about what to do with these vegetables. I don't even think we have spices." The older man inspected the cabinets, finding plates, a couple of glasses, and utensils. He opened the last cabinet, and raised an eyebrow. A small glass container sat in the corner of the tiny space, right next to a couple of cans of…beans. Joel sighed, and took out the glass container. It had some sort of dried, green leaves inside of it. He opened it and sniffed it, recognizing the scent. He hadn't smelled this herb in years, and it brought back memories of a more civilized time.

"I found basil. It'll go good with the ham, I think. We could use it in stews, too." Joel said as he replaced the basil. He put all of the vegetables and other food in the fridge, and put the couple of small bags of ice for Ellie's ankle in the freezer above it. Hopefully there was enough power running through the place to keep it frozen.

Ellie spoke up from the couch. "Cool, I don't think I've actually cooked with spices before. What other kinds were there?" She wondered aloud, and Joel knew this was another one of her "before the world ended" questions.

"Any kind you could imagine, I guess. You could fill a whole shelf with the little containers they came in. They came from all over the world, too. Some were really expensive, others you could grow in your own backyard. I remember I used to make mint tea with the mint leaves in our garden before the infection broke out." Joel replied, leaning on the counter.

The red-haired girl thought about the possibilities for a moment. She wondered if there were herbs growing in the fields within and around Jackson County right now. That would explain where the basil had come from. A comfortable silence stretched between them, and Ellie broke it by asking, "How long am I grounded for?"

The old man thought about the answer. It wasn't easy, making Ellie stay in one place for a long period of time. Her sprained ankle forced her to do just that, but as for the punishment itself, he didn't think he should be too hard on her. It would only be a matter of time before she would try to hobble off when he wasn't home. "The day after tomorrow. By then, you'll be able to walk without too much trouble, and you'll be getting on my nerves so much, I'll have to let you out."

Ellie pursed her lips, nodding. "Fair enough. Want to play cards?" The young girl offered, trying to think of something to relieve her imminent boredom.

Joel smirked as he went to retrieve the pack of cards from his backpack. "Sure, baby girl. I'll teach you how to play poker, then blackjack. Anyone who's anyone knows how to play a good game of poker."

The redhead laughed in disbelief as she limped over to the table while Joel rummaged around in his backpack for the cards. "Anyone who's anyone knows how to scam people in a card game to get all their cash." She shot back smartly, thinking of the time when Joel explained gambling to her. Apparently, there used to be huge places where people would flock to play cards, called casinos. You walked in with money, and walked out with none. Poker used to be a common game played, and Ellie still had trouble figuring out how a simple thing like cards could make someone lose hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars.

Joel reappeared with a worn deck of cards in his hand. "Did you know I used to win all of the poker games back before the infection? Tommy hated me for winning all the time. He constantly accused me of cheating at our late-night poker parties, but then again, he was never sober at those parties." He chuckled at the memory.

"No way! You, a poker pro? Well, I guess you could be good at poker…you never have any expression on your face other than grumpy." Ellie replied as her adopted father dealt the cards.

"Ha ha. Very funny. Now listen carefully, because I'm only going to explain this once. Poker is not a simple game. It has a lot of rules, and each card means a different thing. Each combination of cards also means a different thing. You've got to know what's what if you're going to make a move. There's also something called a 'pot', which is where all the money goes. If we had poker chips, they would symbolize money, but we'll have to make do without them. You follow me so far?" Joel explained, seeing the glazed-over look in Ellie's eyes.

The redhead gave a start as she realized Joel asked a question. "What? Oh, sorry. I've learned to tune you out after you start talking too much." She shook her head, making an effort to pay attention.

"Well, then listen this time. Poker is a very important card game. You could win big, or lose big, but unfortunately, we don't have anything to bet with. This is just practice." The older man said as he proceeded to explain the rules of poker. After a while, Ellie started identifying which combinations were better than others, and after a couple of hours, she was a pro at it. If casinos were still around, Ellie would actually stand a chance at an amateur's poker table.

Joel also explained blackjack to the young girl, who picked it up quicker than poker. Soon they were playing all the card games Joel could remember the rules to, and time flew by. They took a break to prepare and eat dinner, and then the older man had to set off to make it in time for his shift at the turbine room.

"I'll see you in a few hours, baby girl. Be good, okay?" Joel said as he handed Ellie a bag of ice for her ankle, and planted a kiss on the top of her forehead.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. Good luck on your first day at work." Ellie smiled as she accepted the bag of ice. She placed it on her ankle as Joel headed out of the house. She sighed in relief as the throbbing temporarily subsided, and then remembered Jason was supposed to come in an hour. Ellie had to admit that she liked the boy's company. He also made a comfortable pillow. She made a mental list of the things they could do, like card games and showing him her comic book collection.

Ellie decided that she should clean up the place before her friend came, but quickly realized she couldn't do that with a bag of ice on her ankle. She huffed and decided it could wait thirty minutes. Fortunately, the oven also had a timer on it. She hobbled over, set it for half-an-hour, then went back to the couch and replaced the bag of ice. The young girl ran over all the rules she had learned from the day's card game marathon while she waited. Then she got bored and moved to the table, where the deck of cards was still stacked up in a neat pile.

Ellie used a second chair to rest her ankle on, and proceeded to inspect the deck of cards. _"There must be a more creative use for these things…" _She thought, and then came up with an idea. She put two cards together to make a triangle, but it didn't hold for very long before collapsing. Ellie tried again until the cards could stand without her help, and made another triangle beside it. She connected them with a fifth card and smiled as she made a bridge. The timer on the oven beeped, breaking her intense focus. The bridge collapsed and she groaned in frustration as she pushed herself away from the table to go turn it off.

Using the counter as a crutch, the red-haired girl washed the dishes, dried them, and replaced them in their proper cabinets. As she went to go sit down to rebuild her card bridge, she heard a tap on the window that was located in front of the table, beside the kitchen. Ellie glanced at the oven-clock and noticed it was only 6:45. The tap was heard again, and she went to go check it out. In the setting sun, Jason waved at her from the other side, holding a pebble in his hand. Since it wasn't dark yet, she could plainly see him in the growing shadows, but she appreciated the stealthy gesture. It was kind of cute. Ellie smiled and waved him over to the front door. Within seconds, the dark-haired boy was in the house, and was sitting at the table with the red-haired girl.

"Joel has a shift patrolling the turbines. He'll be back in two hours." The young girl informed him. Jason had a gray, long-sleeved shirt on in the cool evening. He still smelled like horse, to which Ellie commented, "Would it kill you to take a shower before you meet up with a girl? I know we have water here."

Jason made a very serious face and signed, 'yes'. Ellie bit back a laugh. Then an idea occurred to her, and she stopped. "You know, this isn't a date, or anything. I just need someone to keep me from going insane since I'm cooped up here all day."

The dark-haired boy smirked and tapped his forehead, signifying he knew. As he did so, his shirt sleeve slipped down, revealing dried blood on his wrist. The area around it was also a bit swollen. The redhead scrunched her brow as she took notice of it. "What happened to your arm? Did that filly bite you?"

Jason shook his head, and then spelled something out slowly with his good hand. The word had three letters, so Ellie guessed, "Dog? A dog bit you?"

The boy signed 'yes' and shrugged. He was a horse person, not a dog person. Ellie narrowed her eyes at his apparent carelessness. "That dog bite is infected, and won't get any better if you leave it as it is. I'm getting gauze and disinfectant from my pack. Jason scowled at her, but she ignored him. When she came back, the dark-haired boy reluctantly held his wounded arm out to her and she cleaned it with the alcohol-based antiseptic. He hissed as it began to sting, but forced himself to keep his arm where it was.

"Being a tough guy when it comes to injuries will only get you killed. You hungry?" Ellie queried as she wrapped Jason's forearm with gauze. He shook his head, and motioned his free hand at the cards. "Joel was teaching me how to gamble. You know how to play blackjack?" She explained, tying the gauze securely.

Jason smirked confidently and shuffled the cards. He dealt them, and the two proceeded to play. Once they got to eleven, Ellie bit her lip, glancing down at her two remaining cards. One was an ace, but she forgot how much it was worth. _"This could make it or break it…" _Ellie thought as she glanced at Jason. He gave her an impatient look. "How much is an ace worth, again?" The redhead asked innocently.

The boy gave her a thumbs-up and shook it. As usual, Ellie had no idea what that meant. Seeing she didn't understand, Jason held up all five fingers and mouthed, "Five." The girl nodded and repeated it back to him. Jason counted up, touching each individual finger to his thumb as Ellie counted out loud with him. When they got to ten, he made them same gesture as before.

"Oh! Ten! I win!" Ellie cheered as the dark-haired boy sighed through his nose and dropped his cards. "Want to play again?" She asked with a smirk. Jason gathered the cards and dealt them again in reply. They played blackjack one more time, and he ended up being the victor.

"Aww, damn. You got lucky. What other card games do you know?" Ellie asked as she gathered up the cards. Jason held up his two index fingers and pointed away from himself, which the redhead understood as 'go'. He then made a gesture which looked like a fish swimming away. Ellie nodded and clarified, "Go…fish? Cool, we could play that." Jason smiled and dealt the cards.

"Do you have a seven?" The red-haired girl questioned, staring intently at her own cards. Jason signed 'no' with his free hand and Ellie picked up a card. He signed 'four' and Ellie put down a card with a huff. She asked him if he had a queen, and he shook his head. "What's the sign for king, jack, and queen, anyway?" Ellie wondered aloud.

Jason placed his cards on the table face-down, and sifted through the deck in the middle to find what he was looking for. He pulled out a king of spades, a queen of clubs, and a jack of hearts. He pointed to the king, and then splayed his index and middle finger apart, drawing a diagonal line from his left shoulder to his right hip. He did the same for the queen card, only his index finger and thumb pointed outwards. He shrugged for the jack and merely spelled it out for her.

"Oh, I see. It's kind of like you're drawing a sash. Hey, why don't you teach me the sign language alphabet so I don't have to constantly ask what you're saying?" The young girl suggested. The dark-haired boy signed 'yes' and neatly piled up the cards.

Ellie watched intently as Jason signed each letter, and she signed it back to make sure she got it right. Gradually, she was able to remember which sign came next, and after an hour, she could sign the alphabet slowly without much prompting from Jason. Ellie felt proud of herself that she could now understand her friend a whole lot better. "Obviously, you're not going to be spelling things out to me the whole time, right? Words have their individual signs without being spelled out."

Jason nodded, and a short silence fell between them. They began to play with the cards as Ellie had before, making card bridges and eventually building a card house. Ellie kept wondering about the boy's scar on his neck, and the curiosity burned within her. Part of her wasn't so sure she wanted to know, though. Another part was constantly restless and refused to settle down. It eventually won over and she blurted out, "Are you ever going to tell me what happened to your neck?"

The dark-haired boy froze, his card triangle toppling over. He let out a long sigh through his nose, and gave her a pained look. Without realizing what she was doing, Ellie reached a hand across the table and intertwined her fingers with his. He glanced down at their hands, and met the young girl's eyes. "I promise I won't tell anyone. Cross my heart. I just…need to know. It's not fun if we keep secrets all the time, you know." Ellie said softly, and Jason closed his eyes for a second, mentally steeling himself. He pulled out his notepad and pencil, letting go of the girl's hand so he could write.

While he wrote, Ellie studied him. He was lanky, but he definitely wasn't scrawny, judging by his muscled shoulders and lean arms. She guessed it was from throwing hay bales all day and training horses. She noticed some ridges on his left upper arm under his thin sweater, but thought nothing of it. Jason finished writing and slid the notepad towards her.

Ellie read it out loud, "Denver Quarantine Zone. Elite military stealth squad. Initiation for promoted members. No choice. Now you." She let the information sink in for a minute. "They cut out your vocal cords so you'd be quieter on missions? That's fucked up! But you…you must have been pretty high up, huh? You killed people." The red-haired girl stated, pushing the notepad towards him. Jason reluctantly nodded, and pointed towards her.

Now Ellie understood why he was so strong. He used to be a soldier. She was also reluctant to share one of her secrets. She didn't want to tell him she was immune, but he trusted her enough to tell her one of his dark secrets. Ellie bit her lip and tugged her right sleeve up, showing her bite mark. She heard Jason take a sharp intake of air as his eyes widened.

"I'm not infected…actually, I'm immune. Just don't go blabbing it to the whole town, okay? Not even your parents are allowed to know." The redhead stated in a deadly serious tone. Jason made an ex over his heart, promising he wouldn't. He glanced out the front window and quickly got out of his chair. Ellie also glanced in the same direction, and swore. Joel was coming up the street, hunting rifle swinging from his shoulder.

The red-haired girl scrambled for a plan to get the boy out of here. "Oh shit, shit, shit! You gotta get out, but how?" She caught sight of a window that opened up to the back of the house in her room. "There! Climb out the window in my room!" She pointed to the second bedroom on the left side of the hallway, and Jason nodded. He quickly pecked Ellie on the cheek before crouching and bolting towards the designated window. She saw him hop out just as Joel turned the doorknob and came inside.

Ellie turned and hobbled over to give him a hug, at the same time trying to calm her racing heart. Joel returned it and leaned his gun against the wall, before sitting down at the table. His brow furrowed as he picked something up off of it. "What's this?" He queried, turning Jason's notepad around in his hands. He had left it behind. Ellie's breath caught in her throat as Joel read the note. She used a chair as a crutch, and mentally kicked herself for making such a huge mistake.

"Ellie, what the hell does this mean?" Joel asked, giving her an angry glare. Something clicked in his head and he dropped the notepad on the table. "That damn boy was here, wasn't he? What did I say about having no friends over?" Ellie winced at his tone, afraid to meet his eyes. The older man looked closer at his adopted daughter's face and asked in a more suspicious tone, "And why are you blushing redder than a ripe tomato?"

The red-haired girl had no answer except, "Oh, shit…" She looked down at her feet, suddenly finding her splint very interesting. She knew she was in trouble now.

The older man crossed his arms. "'Oh, shit' is right. You're grounded for another day. I will make sure that I will be watching you 24/7 so you learn the meaning of my authority and punishment. Now go to your room and get to bed." He stated mercilessly, and Ellie limped off to her room without protesting. She sifted through her closet for a change of clothes, and exchanged her checkered jacket for her purple and white sweater. The redhead flopped herself onto the bed and closed her eyes, falling into a fitful sleep. Her last thought before drifting off was of how miserable the next three days were going to be. She was officially a prisoner in her own house.


	5. Invitation

The red-haired girl never thought she could sleep so much. She would lay awake in bed for an hour, go get something to eat or use the bathroom, and then go back to sleep for another two hours. The cycle continued until it was actually time to go to bed. She still felt like the guilt threatened to tear her apart sometimes as she lay in bed that day, but her mind seemed to slowly repress all the hell she had went through.

When night came, Ellie was lying in bed as usual, trying to get some sleep. Since Jason's first and probably last nightly visit the day before, she assumed he had enough sense to steer clear of her house during the night. Apparently Ellie was wrong about that when she heard a tap against her bedroom window at around midnight.

The young girl gave a start when the loud noise pierced through the silence of the house. Ellie prayed under her breath that Joel hadn't been woken up by the sound. He had a keen sense of hearing after all those years relying on it to save himself from Infected. She heard the tapping sound again, and faced her window. Her heart both rose and fell at the same time. It had to be Jason, but the red-haired girl reminded herself she wasn't allowed to see him. Ellie got out of bed and limped over to the window, opening it.

"Jason? Is that you?" The red-haired girl whispered into the darkness. A cold, nightly breeze blew through the window, making her shiver. The bushes under her window rustled, and she could make out a human figure crouched behind them. It rose up, and she could see the outline of her friend in the moonlight, smiling.

"What the hell are you doing here? You could get in huge trouble if Joel wakes up! He already extended my grounding, so I'm stuck here for two more days." Ellie explained quietly as Jason leaned against the window pane. From the ground, he had to stand on his toes to reach it.

The dark-haired boy frowned, and sighed through his nose. After a moment, he held a finger up and rushed off into the darkness, leaving Ellie wondering if he was gone for good. A minute later, he came back leading the bay horse he had ridden with Joel. Jason made an old-fashioned bow and inclined his head towards the horse. Fortunately, there was enough room for the animal in the backyard, but only just.

Ellie stared at the animal, dumbfounded for a second. "You're…you're kidding me. You want me to ride with you when there's every chance Joel could wake up, find me gone, and wring your neck for kidnapping me in the middle of the night." Jason shrugged and patted the horse like it was an expensive car. The temptation was too great, and the redhead knew she was going to get cabin fever if she stayed inside the house any longer. She also knew she was going to get an earful if Joel found out.

The young girl smiled, "I like the way you think, Jason." She gingerly climbed out the window, being careful to put as little weight on her right foot as possible. Once she was out, she listened for any creaking inside the house to suggest Joel had woken up. Ellie heard nothing, and assumed she was safe. She almost yelped as her feet suddenly got swept up off the ground, but clapped a hand over her mouth. Jason carefully sat her on the bareback horse, and then hopped on behind her. He expertly backed the animal out of the tiny space between Ellie's house and the one beside it, until they were back on the street again.

"Wow, you're good at this horse-riding stuff. How did you do that?" Ellie asked in wonder as Jason halted the horse. She felt him chuckle behind her as he took her hands in his, making her hold the reins. He pulled her hands towards her, leaned his weight back, and squeezed the horse with his legs. The horse snorted and backed up a step, and he let go of her hands. Jason took the reins and urged the horse forward as Ellie hung on by the horse's charcoal mane. "That is so cool. What else can you do on a horse?" She asked excitedly.

Jason let the horse walk a few steps. He pulled on the reins a little, and the horse slowed down to almost a halt again. The dark-haired boy then opened his right rein, turning the horse's head in that direction. Ellie felt him squeeze the horse with his left leg, and the horse slowly turned in a circle, pivoting on its hind legs. Ellie giggled with delight as they moved forward again. "You have to teach me this stuff when my ankle is healed up. It's fucking awesome!" She smiled, and felt like she was happy for the first time in years, even if it was short-lived. The blanket of guilt quickly settled down on her mind again, snuffing out the joyful moment.

They settled into a comfortable silence, enjoying each other's company. Ellie gazed up at the stars above and gasped at how beautiful they were here. Back in Boston, she never really saw the stars because of all the lights in the city. She quickly identified her favourite constellations: Ursa Major, Ursa Minor, and Cassiopeia. She felt content and secure, riding a horse with Jason's strong arms around her.

"So…what's with the late-night getaway? Couldn't sleep?" Ellie guessed after a few minutes of silence. Jason gave her the reins so he could talk. He signed 'no' and, for simplicity's sake, signed out what he wanted to say since she couldn't turn around to look at him. Jason fingerspelled a sentence out slowly for her, and she repeated it back to him. "I…missed…you. Aww, you did? I missed having you around, too. Joel is about as responsive as a rock when he's mad at me. Things got really boring, really fast." Ellie replied, glad to know that at least one person wasn't angry with her today. "What did you do at the barn today?" She asked, keeping her gaze forward. Ellie turned the horse to the right as they came to an intersection.

Jason signed something out for her again, and she translated out loud, "Rode filly." Her lips twitched upwards, remembering how the black and white horse bucked the first time she saw her. Ellie giggled in disbelief. "You rode that bucking bronco? I bet you fell off." She drawled, letting a smile play on her lips.

The dark-haired boy nodded his hand and made the number two. Ellie raised an eyebrow, surprised that the expert sitting behind her fell off twice. "Really? She bucked you off two times? You didn't hurt yourself, did you?" The worry in her tone caught her off guard. Usually, she only saved that for Joel.

Jason signed 'a little', and then shrugged. He wasn't going to tell her he popped his left shoulder the first time, but Shane put it back into place. He also wasn't going to tell her that the horse almost crushed his leg when he fell off the second time. Ellie sighed and fell silent. Jason looked up at the stars to gauge how much the moon had moved. He estimated they had been riding for a least half-an-hour. The dark-haired boy spelled out 'home' to Ellie, and she shook her head. She yawned and leaned back against him, and he took the reins from her. They rode along the dirt street until they reached the next intersection, and by then Ellie's head was nestled in the crook of Jason's neck, her eyes closed. He smirked down at her and turned the horse around, riding back to her house.

The dark-haired boy nudged the young girl awake as he halted the horse in front of her house, but out of sight of the window. Ellie groaned in protest, but rubbed the sleep from her eyes. Jason caught her as she dismounted, and carried her around to the back of the house. "That was unnecessary, you know. I can still walk with a sprained ankle." Ellie complained, but in truth she appreciated the gesture. Jason gave her a leg up so she could climb through her bedroom window, and waited until she turned around and faced him. "You're so cheesy, Jason." The redhead smiled despite the insult, and he silently chuckled. He took her hand and kissed it, and then darted out of sight, swallowed up by the night. Ellie shook her head, her smile growing wider. She crawled into bed and fell asleep easily for once.

* * *

In the morning, Ellie yawned and stretched her arms over her head, thinking back to the midnight ride the night before. It felt dreamlike to her, but she knew it was real. Her clothes smelled faintly of horse, and she wondered if Jason would come back again. More importantly, she wondered if Joel was any the wiser about the late-night sneak out. Ellie went to change her clothes, but discovered that they were all gone.

"_Okay…this is weird. Where did my clothes go?" _The red-haired girl wondered as she scratched her head. She limped out of her room and called out, "Joel?" No answer. Ellie furrowed her brow and hobbled over to the table, where a note lay on it.

_Went to do laundry and go fishing with Tommy. Breakfast is on stove. You're still grounded, even though I'm not here. –Joel_

"Yeah, yeah I know." Ellie scoffed as she went over to the stove. Scrambled eggs and the last of the ham were mixed together in a small pan. It was still warm, and she grabbed a fork out of the cabinet to eat it straight from the pan. When she was done, she washed the pan in the sink and replaced it in its proper cupboard. Ellie decided to test her right foot and found that it could actually hold some weight, and smiled. She would have that damn splint off by the time her grounding was up.

The redhead glanced around for something to occupy herself with. Her gaze fell on the front window, and she noticed something different about the front porch. There was a chair on it with a guitar sitting beside it. She raised an eyebrow in question, and opened the door to go check it out. It wasn't leaving the house if she was on the front porch, right?

Ellie sat in the plastic lawn chair and picked up the guitar, examining it. It was a beautiful, chestnut-coloured instrument, and she held it properly in her hands. The redhead plucked a few strings and smiled at the sound they made. She tried a few chords, and moving her hand along the guitar's neck to produce different notes. She improvised short, simple tunes and didn't see someone coming up to her.

"Hey, I didn't know you could play guitar! Cool!" Ellie recognized Hailey's voice and looked up from the guitar. She gave her a tiny smile as the girl sat on the steps beside her.

The redhead tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and shook her head. "Actually, I just found this. It's Joel's…uh, it's my dad's. I guess he just got it this morning." She explained, putting the instrument aside.

"Oh, I see. How's your ankle doing?" Hailey asked, motioning her hand towards Ellie's splinted leg.

The young girl shrugged in reply. "It's getting better. I can put a bit of weight on it now, and I don't think I need my crutch anymore."

The blonde girl gave her an encouraging smile. "That's great! Are you doing anything right now? Katie, Josie, and I are planning to go to the river and hang out after lunch. Want to come?" She offered, hope lighting up her baby-blue eyes.

Ellie sighed and shook her head. "I really want to, but I can't. I'm kinda grounded for another two days."

Hailey furrowed her golden eyebrows, a frown tugging at her lips. "That's not fun! Why are you grounded?" She hugged her knees to her chest and rested her chin on them, listening intently.

"Uhh…you remember when I told you I fell off a horse? That was _after_ I ran away on it. I'm grounded because of that." The red-haired girl bit her lip, wishing she hadn't let her emotions take over that day. Maybe this was what Joel meant by learning the meaning of punishment, and his authority. Sitting in the house all day does teach one to think about the consequences of their actions.

Hailey cocked her head, thinking about her new friend's explanation. "Why would you want to run away? This place has it all: safety, food, water, plenty of stuff to do, and boys."

Ellie raised an eyebrow at the last word, and gave the girl a sad smile. "It's…complicated. It's not that I don't like this place, I do. I love it, but…I'm just going through a rough patch right now. Running away from your problems doesn't solve them, though. I've learned it just makes them worse." She rested her chin on the palms of her hands, sighing.

"Well, if you ever want to talk about it, you can come to any of us. We've all been through some rough points in our lives. Well, see you around, Ellie." The light-haired girl went to stand up, but Ellie called her back.

"Hey, wait. Thanks for the offer…it means a lot to me. And uhh…why did you mention boys on the list of things that makes this place so great? I don't see too many our age around here." The redhead said as she leaned back in her chair.

Hailey smiled mischievously as she sat back down. "What's life without a little love on the side? They're around, and we know they're looking for girlfriends, too. Who wouldn't want some romance after going through hell? We even play spin the bottle on weekends sometimes, when the boys have time off from working in the fields. Me, Katie, Josie, and a few other girls have planned a little party this Saturday, actually. We'd love it if you could come. Some guys have agreed to come, too." She winked, and Ellie cocked her head.

"What's 'spin the bottle'? I've never heard of it." The red-haired girl asked, curious.

The blonde laughed, thinking it was a joke. She became serious after she realized Ellie hadn't joined in. "Oh, you're not kidding. You poor thing, you've missed out on so much…well, if you come to the party, you'll find out. We usually do it in the barn loft, since everyone won't fit in one of our houses, and there aren't any adults around. What do you say?" She smiled excitedly, practically bouncing up and down on the porch.

Ellie thought about the offer for a moment. She had to be really good if she wanted to go to that party on Saturday. "Yeah, it sounds fun. I think I'll come. Uhh…what day is it today?"

"It's Thursday. I hope your dad lets you out by Saturday night…we have four guys coming so far: Peter, Michael, Julian, and his brother Derek. We have six girls now, including you: me, Josie, Katie, Gemma, and Olivia. I think it's going to be the biggest turnout we've had yet!" Hailey bounced for real this time, squealing in delight. Ellie couldn't help but giggle. Her enthusiasm was infectious.

The redhead commented after her friend had calmed down, "It looks like you have an unequal number. What about Jason?"

Hailey raised both eyebrows, surprised at the suggestion. "Jason? Jason who? I don't know anybody with that name. Is he cute?" She leaned in, now fully attentive.

Ellie shrugged. "Yeah, I guess so. He works in the barn with his dad. Dark brown hair, brown eyes, smells like horse all the time? Are you sure you don't know him? He had to have been at your parties, he works at the fucking place." She crossed her arms as Hailey scrunched her brow in thought.

The light-haired girl suddenly snapped her fingers, "Oh! Yeah, I think I know who you're talking about! He's that guy who doesn't talk…We've tried to invite him, but he always refuses, for some reason. I guess he doesn't like parties, but he always hangs around on the lower level even after his dad goes home. You seem like you're friends with him, why don't you get him to come along? We could use another guy." Hailey had a mischievous glint in her eye, like she suspected Ellie and Jason were more than just friends.

The redhead smiled and nodded. "I think he'd like that. Do you have any idea as to why he doesn't go to parties? It seems kind of weird. He's really fun once you get to know him."

The blonde glanced around, making sure no one overheard them. She dropped her voice to a serious whisper. "I know there are a few rumours about him…there's this strange scar on his neck, and Katie says she thinks someone tried to cut his throat, or he tried to commit suicide. I think that's why he can't talk, because his vocal cords were cut in the process. Whenever he wears a t-shirt, you can see this weird tattoo on his upper left arm…I never got close enough to see what it was, though. Gemma says he used to part of a group of bandits who attacked other settlements on horse-back, and that was their symbol. I'm sure they're just rumours, nothing more. We only keep it within our group, though. The adults don't know, or they just ignore us." Hailey shrugged, and her chipper tone returned. "Well, hope you can make it on Saturday! See you!" She stood up, gave Ellie a quick hug, and skipped off down the street, blonde hair bouncing around, filled with liveliness like the rest of her.

Ellie took a couple of minutes to sort out everything her new friend had just said. They were just rumors, but they seemed awfully close to what Jason had told her. She could see how someone might have tried to cut his throat quite easily; a lot of people tried to do that to her, too. Committing suicide also seemed plausible, but Ellie was convinced that he had enough willingness to survive if he had gotten this far, and made the journey from Colorado. The redhead decided to stick with what the boy had told her, and refused to believe in the rumours even if they were tamer than what he had told her.

She sat on the porch for a long while after that, just thinking. Her mind flitted from thought to thought, some good, and some bad. Ellie tried to focus more on the good ones, though. She jolted from her reverie as she heard the steps of the porch creak. Looking up, Ellie recognized Joel, and he was holding a small cooler in one hand, a fishing rod in the other, and a basket of dry laundry was somehow balanced on his hip on top of all that.

"Hey, how was fishing? Did you catch anything?" The red-haired girl asked, eying the cooler. She took the laundry basket as set it on the floor inside.

Joel chuckled and ruffled her hair. He seemed to be in a better mood after getting some fresh air and spending time with his brother. "Yeah, baby girl, Tommy and I caught a lot. All the trout you can eat, and then some. I only kept three; the rest went to Tommy to feed his family. We're having fish for dinner, tonight. How was your morning?" The older man asked as he also went inside. He set his fishing rod by the door.

"It was alright. I played on your guitar a little bit. Where'd you get it?" Ellie queried as Joel set the cooler on the counter and got out a cutting board from under the sink. He took a sharp-looking knife out from the cupboard and set it beside the wooden board.

As he washed the three trout, Joel spoke, "Maria gave it to me, actually. She said she got it from some guy who didn't want it anymore. Did you have fun playing? We'll bring it in here and I'll teach you. First though, you have to learn how to gut a fish." He chopped the head off of one trout, and put it in the sink.

"I made some music, I guess. Isn't gutting a fish the same as gutting a rabbit, or any other animal? It can't be that difficult." Ellie said as she watched Joel cut along the belly of the beheaded fish.

Joel chuckled as he worked. "Actually, I think it's a lot easier. Fish are a lot smaller, and they've got much simpler insides. Here, this is how you fillet them." The older man said as he cut off the tail, removed the spine, the rib and fin bones, and cut off the skin. He handed Ellie the knife, and watched her work on the second fish. He praised her as she imitated him perfectly. "You're pretty good at this. Easier than skinning a rabbit, huh?"

The red-haired girl nodded as she worked on the third fish. "Yeah, fish don't have any fur. Hey, uhh…can I ask you something?" She questioned, her tone nervous. Ellie never got nervous around Joel unless she thought he would give her an answer she didn't like.

Joel eyed her warily, but nodded all the same. "Sure, you know you can ask me anything. Shoot." He began washing the fillets with water, and setting them on a clean plate.

"Well, my friend Hailey came up to me today and we sorta got talking, and she invited me to this party on Saturday. I was wondering…can I go? I know my grounding won't be up by then, but we're going to play games, and-" Her adopted father held up a hand to stop her. She always started rambling when she got nervous.

"Whoa, whoa, there. Hold on a minute. A _party_? …Are there going to be boys at this party?" Joel asked skeptically.

Ellie nodded her head vigorously, "Yeah, I'm going to invite Jason, too. Hailey said he could come."

Since he was finished with the fish, he washed his hands and sat down at the table. "Alright then, at least you'll know some people. What kind of games did this Hailey say you were going to play with these boys?" Joel seemed very tense, which made Ellie confused. It was just a gathering of friends, and he should be happy that she was being social, the redhead reasoned.

The young girl thought back to her conversation and replied innocently, "I think she mentioned something called 'spin the bottle. She didn't tell me what-" Again, she got cut off by Joel.

"Ellie, do you _know_ what 'spin the bottle' is?" The older man asked, his voice clipped and edgy. He obviously did not like this party conversation, but he had to remind himself that Ellie had never been to a party, hence she had no idea what went on with teenagers at these gatherings.

Ellie huffed, putting her hands on her hips. "If you'd let me finish…" Joel motioned a hand towards her, letting her continue. "As I was _saying_, Hailey didn't tell me what it was about, but I think it'll be a fun game. She seemed really excited about it. _Now _you can tell me what it is." She said, growing impatient. _"What's his fucking problem? It's just a party…No big deal." _The redhead thought as Joel opened his mouth to answer.

Joel's face pinched as he responded reluctantly, "Spin the bottle is a kissing game, Ellie."

An awkward silence stretched between them. The young girl definitely wasn't expecting that. "Oh…uh…Is that bad?" She questioned tentatively after a couple of minutes. She already felt her cheeks flushing with embarrassment, and knew the answer before Joel said it.

"Yes it's bad, of course it's bad! Do you want to be swapping spit with strangers, boys you don't even know? Who the hell knows what else these kids might get you to do? You're fourteen, for shit's sake! You shouldn't be doing this kind of stuff!" The older man exclaimed defensively. He was _not _going to have his little girl making out with some guy, no matter what her friends said.

Ellie took a deep breath to calm the urge to snap at her adopted father. This was her only chance at convincing him to let her go, and she wasn't going to blow it by getting hot-headed. "If I promise to not play spin the bottle, then will you let me go?" She offered in a steady, restrained voice.

Joel thought about the negotiation, and pinched his nose with his thumb and forefinger. "I don't know, Ellie…" He sighed, lips curling downward.

"Please? Pretty please? I promise I won't do anything stupid!" The red-haired girl begged, clasping her hands together.

The old man finally caved in. "Okay, you can go. But keep your promise and don't do anything I wouldn't approve of, baby girl." He grunted as Ellie limped over and tackled him with a hug.

"Thanks, Dad! You're the best!" Ellie exclaimed happily as Joel returned the hug. He released her and went to rummage around the kitchen to put the unused fish in something, so he could freeze it. He found a roll of aluminum foil the cupboard beside the oven, and wrapped all of the trout fillets in it except for two. Joel put them in the freezer, and got the bread and cheese out.

"Now that that's out of the way, how about some grilled cheese sandwiches for lunch?" The older man offered, giving his adopted daughter a small, rare smile. It warmed the icy part of his heart to see her happy and excited about something.

Ellie smiled in reply, getting the plates and fork out of the cupboards. Maybe being grounded wasn't so bad, after all?


	6. The Party

The next couple of days were slightly better than the first. Joel taught Ellie how to play his guitar, which she was glad for. It relieved the boredom of being stuck in the house immensely. It was a challenge the redhead was willing to take up, and she thought she was pretty decent at playing the instrument after a few lessons from Joel. The older man was more than happy that his adopted daughter had taken an interest in music. She even started humming along as she plucked the strings, sometimes.

Unbeknownst to Joel, Ellie still went on midnight rides with Jason after the old man had gone to sleep. They would ask each other questions as they rode along, swaying to the rhythm of the horse's movements beneath them. Ellie found out a lot more about Jason, like his goals and the type of music he liked. She discovered he always wanted to ride out and rope cattle and stray horses, to bring them back to the town. Apparently his father hadn't taught him how to use a lasso yet, but he said he would soon. She told him about her life in Boston, the trouble she caused in school and her adventures with Joel. Ellie left out the more gruesome parts, like the hospital and anything that had to do with David.

Ellie told Jason about the party Hailey invited her to, and she asked if he wanted to go with her. He was reluctant at first, but eventually came around. Finally, Saturday rolled around, and the red-haired girl could barely contain herself that morning.

Joel watched bemusedly as his little girl flitted to and fro, never finding enough to occupy herself with. "If you keep up like that, you'll burn yourself out before noon." He chuckled, and Ellie stopped long enough to cock her head at him.

"Huh? Yeah, I guess you're right…It's just Jason's coming and I want to make a good impression on Hailey and her friends, and I'm just worried that I'll fuck something up." Ellie sighed as she plopped herself down on the couch. She had her splint off, and she walked with only a slight limp now. Joel had warned her numerous times not to push herself, and she obeyed him.

"You won't fuck anything up, Ellie. Just be yourself and if they don't like that, it's their loss. As for Jason, I'm sure he'll have a much fun as you will. Calm the heck down, and eat your breakfast." The older man said, tapping Ellie's untouched oatmeal with her spoon. They had gotten a small bag of oats the day before, and it wasn't half bad, in Joel's opinion.

The redhead got up from the couch just as her stomach growled with hunger. "Maybe breakfast is a good idea." She agreed with her stomach and sat down at the table, spooning oatmeal into her mouth. It tasted bland, but at least it would get her stomach to shut up.

When she was done, Joel washed the dishes and Ellie went to her room to pick something better to wear than what she had on. She settled for her red, checkered jacket and red t-shirt underneath. Ellie changed her jeans, and then sat on her bed, looking for something else to do. She spotted her comics in a pile, and smirked. Even though the young girl had read them at least three times through, she still wasn't tired of them. Ellie took her stack and pulled the first issue from the pile. She began reading, and got to the fourth one by the time Joel called her for lunch.

They had pan-fried chicken with the last of the beans for lunch, and then the redhead went back to reading her comics. Joel was glad she had found something to do, and wasn't wearing a groove into the floor. After a couple of hours, Ellie thought she felt the bed shake, but paid no attention to it. She went back to reading the seventh issue of Savage Starlight, but then felt the bed shake once more. The redhead heard the close-by whinny of a horse, and someone whopping from down the street. Curious, she got out of bed and threw a glance at Joel, who also appeared to have felt the shaking. They both stepped out onto the front porch, and saw a blonde-haired boy wrestling with a calf up the street.

He managed to tie the calf's legs together with a rope, and called out, "Time! What'd I get?"

Ellie recognized Shane's voice from the other end of the street, who yelled back, "One minute, 52 seconds! You'll have to do better if you want to beat your brother, Derek! It's Peter's turn, next!"

"What the hell is he doing? Is falling off your horse and tying up a calf considered a sport?" Ellie muttered as the boy untied the calf, and tugged it along with the chestnut and white-patched horse she had once run away on. Jason had told they were called Paints. She and Joel watched as Shane released another calf and a black-haired boy on the bay horse galloped after it with a lasso. He roped the calf, almost got trampled by his horse, but managed to tie it up as well.

Jason's father, the boy named Derek, and a few other boys whopped and cheered as Peter stood up, victorious. "One minute, 30 seconds! We have a new record, boys! Jason's up next!" Derek called out as he read the stopwatch in Shane's hand. Jason mounted his black and white filly, which looked nervous with all the commotion. When Peter got back in line with his calf and horse in tow, Shane released the calf Derek had chased. Jason's horse reared a little at the sudden command to take off, but galloped along nevertheless. The pair caught up to the calf, and Jason roped it like the other boys, but the filly felt him slide off and began bucking, catapulting her rider and making him let go of the calf. Ellie winced as he hit the ground hard. Both animals trotted away, leaving Jason spread-eagled on the ground. The filly still bucked every so often.

"You okay, Jason?" A different boy, one with light brown hair, asked worriedly as Jason rolled over. He coughed and spit dirt out of his mouth, but gave the other boys a thumbs-up. He noticed Ellie and Joel standing on their porch, and gave them a weak smile, but winced in pain as he stood up, holding his left side. Jason grabbed his horse's reins and one of the other boys cantered over to get the calf that had gotten away. The dark-haired boy stopped as his father told him something, and then retreated into the barn with the filly. Ellie felt sorry for him, being embarrassed in front of his family and friends like that, but there was nothing she could do. She went back inside while Joel stayed to watch the boys rope calves.

The red-haired girl returned to reading her comics until it was time for dinner, and then joined Joel at the table. They had the rest of the chicken and some boiled potatoes that the older man had managed to get a hold of. The setting sun bathed the house in orange through the kitchen window. Ellie was almost finished her meal when a knock was heard at the door.

"Now who the hell would come here right in the middle of dinner?" Joel complained as he got up to answer the door. Ellie leaned back as far as she could in her chair without tipping it over, to see who it was. A flash of blonde hair caught her eye, and she smiled.

"Hailey! Is the party starting already?" Ellie asked as she got up. The older man moved aside to let his adopted daughter through. The blonde girl was smiling as she waved at her friend.

"Yep, I came to pick you up! C'mon, we don't want to be late!" Hailey bubbled with excitement, once again bouncing on the balls of her feet. Joel swore the girl had some kind of hyperactivity problem.

Joel took Ellie by the shoulder before she could step outside. "Remember what we promised, okay?" He told her sternly. The redhead nodded and waved him goodbye.

"I didn't forget, don't worry. I'll be fine!" Ellie called as Hailey practically dragged her down the front steps. Joel waved her off and closed the door.

As they walked along the dirt road, Hailey gossiped, "Did you see the boys roping calves today? Oh my gosh, they were _so_ hot! I feel bad for Jason, though. How embarrassing to get bucked off in front of your friends! I doubt they'll let him live it down for a while." She snickered behind her hand.

"Do you even care if he was hurt? He could have broken a rib, or something!" Ellie snapped back. How could her friend be so shallow?

Hailey shrugged and snorted, "He'll live though, right? It's no big deal if he got a few bruises. No need to be so defensive."

The redhead rolled her eyes as they arrived at the barn. Some boys and a few girls waved down at them from the loft. Ellie recognized Derek and Peter, but she had no idea who the other two boys were. One was blond and looked almost exactly like Derek, so she assumed that had to be his brother Julian. Ellie found it amusing that they were twins. The other was the light brown-haired boy that must have been Michael. Josie and Katie also waved from the loft. She glanced around for Jason, and felt relief as he stepped out of Beauty's stall with an empty bucket.

"How's your side doing?" Ellie asked Jason as he gave her a smile. He shrugged, indicating it was no big deal, and set the bucket down. The dark-haired boy gazed passed Ellie as the trio heard two girls giggling from behind them. One had mouse-brown hair and blue eyes, who shouldered a bag, and the other had curly black hair and dark skin, and she reminded Ellie of Marlene.

Hailey introduced the girls as they climbed the stairs to the loft. "This is Olivia, and that's Gemma. Girls, this is Ellie. She's new." The blonde pointed to the black-haired girl and other brown-haired one in turn. They smiled at her as they sat down in a circle. Hearing that she was new, everyone else who hadn't been introduced to Ellie greeted her warmly and told her their names.

Gemma set down her bag and pulled out a half full bottle of rum. Everyone except for Ellie and Jason whistled and patted the girl's shoulder as they passed the bottle around, each taking a swig of it. Naturally, Ellie refused it, but when the bottle got around to Jason, he took a small swing as well. Ellie narrowed her eyes at him, and he shrugged, wiping his mouth with the sleeve of his blue shirt. When everyone except Ellie had a bit of alcohol, Hailey corked the bottle and set it in the middle of the circle they had formed.

"Everyone know how to play spin the bottle? It's the kissing version this time. We'll let Ellie have the first go, since she's new." Josie spoke up, motioning her hand to Ellie.

The redhead's heart pumped loud in her ears, and her hands felt a little clammy. She sat back, biting her lip. "Uhh…actually I-I can't…my dad said I wasn't allowed to play." She said feebly, heat rising to her cheeks. Truth was she had never even kissed anyone before. If she made a fool of herself, she doubted any of the boys would ask her out after tonight. Ellie held on to a tiny little bit of hope that they would.

Gemma smirked, giggling a little. "What your dad doesn't know can't hurt him, right? C'mon, it's only a kissing game. You've kissed someone before, right?" She eyed Ellie knowingly, and the rest of the group waited in anticipation for her answer.

"Umm…No, I haven't." Ellie replied timidly, earning a few gasps from the girls.

Julian or Derek, Ellie didn't know which, winked at her and teased, "I'll be happy to teach you, Ellie."

As the twin's brother shoved him, the redhead answered, "Are you Julian or Derek?"

The blond boy who had spoken to her smiled and responded with, "Julian. My brother Derek is the violent one." Derek elbowed his brother in the ribs for that comment, making him yelp.

"_Okay, Julian's a pervert and Derek likes to hurt people…good to know." _Ellie thought as the two boys calmed down. She prayed that Joel would forgive her and spun the bottle, making its contents slosh around inside. It pointed to Olivia, and Ellie raised her eyebrow, unsure of what would happen next.

The curly-haired girl saw the look of discomfort on Ellie's face and reassured her, "Don't worry, if it points to someone of the same gender, they get to ask you a question or make you do something." Ellie relaxed and Olivia queried, "Where did you come from?"

"I came from the Boston Quarantine Zone." The red-haired girl replied. Some members' eyes widened as they thought of the distance she must have crossed to end up in Wyoming.

Olivia nodded and spun the bottle herself. It pointed to Josie, who asked her, "What job did you have in the San Francisco Quarantine Zone?"

The dark-skinned girl bit her lip and answered, "I gutted fish. I can fillet one in under a minute." The boys nodded in approval, while the girls, with the exception of Ellie, grimaced at the mention of the unsanitary job. Ellie thought it was pretty cool, but she didn't voice her opinion, lest she be called out.

Josie twirled the bottle, and it pointed to Julian, who got clapped on the back by the other boys. The pair stood up and embraced each other, locking lips while the people sitting on the ground cheered. They broke apart after a few seconds and sat back down. Julian spun the bottle and it pointed at Jason.

"Show us your tattoo, man. We know you have one." The blond boy demanded, and Ellie furrowed her brow. Jason looked nervous, but slowly rolled up his left sleeve to reveal a design on his upper arm. Ellie squinted and mouthed silently, "Denver QZ Armed Forces, Squad No. 25, Cobras" The inscription was black, and so were the two snakes that bordered the words.

"_So it's true…he was a soldier." _Ellie thought as Jason rolled his sleeve back down. The other members of the group seemed surprised that their rumours had been proved wrong, but said nothing of it. The dark-haired boy whirled the bottle around, and it pointed to Derek. Jason signed something to him, and the blond boy stared blankly back at him.

"I think he said 'who would you go out with?' Right, Jason?" Ellie translated, and Jason confirmed by nodding his hand.

Derek raised an eyebrow and eyed the girls in the group. His gaze rested on Gemma. "Gemma. She can steal anything, including a guy's heart." The rest of the group giggled under their breath as the mouse-haired girl blushed. Derek twirled the rum bottle, and it stopped at Ellie. The redhead glanced from the bottle to Derek, who was already coming over to her. Her heart beat loud in her ears as he leaned in to kiss her, and she waited for it to be over. He smelled horrible, and he didn't make the experience pleasant, crashing his lips to hers. She closed her eyes for effect, knowing the others were watching, and the blond boy pulled away as he smirked triumphantly. Ellie knew she didn't want her first kiss to be like that, and it left her shaken. Just one more thing she did wrong.

The other members in the circle cheered and clapped for her, but she didn't feel happy about kissing Derek. She felt ashamed of herself for having stooped that low and breaking her promise to Joel. Ellie spun the bottle and it pointed to Katie. She asked in falsely confidant voice, "What's the most embarrassing thing you've ever done?"

Ellie ignored the concerned look Jason was giving her, and she didn't hear Katie's answer because she was too wrapped up in her own thoughts. She heard the patter of raindrops on the metal roof of the barn, and it soon turned into a drumming. Ellie tried to be happy for her other friends being kissed, and she asked them questions when it was her turn, but her heart wasn't in the game anymore. The guilt came crashing down on her once more, and she didn't notice someone coming up to her. She felt a hand gently tip her head up, and came back to reality as she realized it was Peter kissing her.

The red-haired girl tore herself away from him and couldn't take the guilt anymore. She fled the loft, taking the steps two at a time, and running down the aisle into the now pouring rain. Ellie didn't care if her friends were calling her back, and she propped herself up using the barn wall outside. Her quiet sobs were drowned out in the rain, and her tears mixed with the water splashing on her face. Night had fallen, and the drop in temperature made she cross her arms for warmth. Her jacket was instantly soaked, as was the rest of her, but she didn't care. Her knees felt weak, and were threatening to buckle underneath her.

Ellie felt a hand on her shoulder after a few minutes, and picked her head up. Jason had come down, and he was standing in front of her. His warm brown eyes held a mixture of concern and sympathy. His outline was bathed in a soft glow from the overhead lamp above the barn door. "What do you want?" The redhead muttered bitterly, wiping the tears from her eyes.

Jason gently wrapped his arms around her, and she didn't protest. He cradled her head against his chest, and stood there with her, resting his chin on the top of her head. Ellie sobbed into his shirt, the sound muffled by the cloth and the rain. She let out all the guilt she had pent up inside of her, violently shaking as sobs racked her body. Jason held her patiently, occasionally kissing the top of her head. Ellie found comfort in his embrace, the smell of hay, horse, and fresh earth all mixed into one as she breathed his scent in. Once she had calmed down enough, she wrapped her arms around his neck, resting her head on his shoulder.

Ellie felt Jason tip her chin up, and didn't turn away as he gently pressed his lips to hers. He moved his lips against hers experimentally, and she returned the kiss, feeling she was doing something right for once. The kiss lasted a few seconds longer, and the boy gave her a sincere smile as he pulled away. Ellie tried to smile back, but something was bothering her.

"You could have had any girl up there to make out with and do whatever with. You've lived a whole fucking year here and then I come along, and you choose me. What the hell makes me so great?" The red-haired girl asked, pulling away from him to look him in the eyes.

Jason scrunched his brow for a second, and then spread his hand in front of his face like he did when signing Beauty's name. He also pulled his index finger up by his other hand, like it was a unique person among any other. Knowing she wouldn't get it at first, he spelled the corresponding word out for her.

Ellie took a minute to process what he said. "You think I'm…beautiful and…special?" Jason nodded and she hugged him again. "Thanks…I don't think anyone's ever told me that. Can we go home? I'm fucking freezing." Jason smirked and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, guiding her back to her house.


	7. Broken Heart

Ellie woke up the next morning feeling lighter. Somehow, the guilt that had been burdening her since she got back from the hospital seemed to have dissipated, or at least part of it. The redhead lay in bed, watching the sunlight streaming through her window and the listening to the birds singing their morning songs outside of it. Life was at peace for once in her tumultuous existence, and it felt good. It was like she finally gotten a foothold in the deep rut she needed to climb out of.

The young girl reluctantly rolled out of bed and changed into clean clothes. Her previous clothes were still damp, and she made a mental note to hang them on the chair outside to dry. The house really needed to get a laundry line. Ellie shuffled out the door and into the kitchen to see Joel cooking breakfast. His face was unreadable, as always. She had told him about the events of the party after Jason had walked her home, save for the kiss, and now he definitely didn't approve of her new friends. Neither did she.

"Good morning, baby girl. How's that hangover treating you?" Joel greeted as Ellie sat down at the table.

It was oatmeal again, and Ellie spooned some into her mouth, swallowed, and replied, "I _told _you, I didn't drink yesterday. All the other dumbasses in that group did, though."

The older man cocked an eyebrow. "Does Jason count as a dumbass?" He asked playfully, swinging his spoon.

"Sometimes he is. Falling off your horse to catch a cow is a dumb thing to do, don't you think?" Ellie retorted as she ate more of her breakfast.

Joel chuckled and shook his head. "Actually, it was quite the spectacle before the infection. People would bring their horses and cows from all over the States to compete in events as part of a rodeo. The people with the best times and the most points won big amounts of money. Calf-roping, or tie-down roping as it was called, was just one of those events."

Ellie stopped to think about that. How many things could you do on a horse? Apparently there were a lot. "Oh…did you go to a lot of them? What other events were there?" Now he had gotten her attention. Anything that happened before the infection was fascinating to her.

"I went to a few, yeah. Men rode bulls and bucking broncos. Women generally competed in the safer events, like barrel racing. That's when you ride a horse around three barrels as fast as you can. It was fun to watch." Joel's gaze became distant for a moment as he reminisced about the rodeos he used to take Sarah to on weekends.

The red-haired girl smirked at the idea of barrel racing. Maybe Jason would teach her? "Barrel racing doesn't sound too hard. What's the challenge in riding around three barrels?" She scoffed, and then spooned more oatmeal into her mouth.

"Try doing it at a gallop all the way through, and doing hairpin turns around the barrels without knocking them over." The older man shot back. He was in a better mood now that he had started educating Ellie about one of his favourite pre-infection pastimes.

"Okay, now that sounds hard. I can barely canter properly, let alone turn a horse around at a gallop." The redhead said humbly as she finished her breakfast. She took Joel's empty bowl and washed them in the sink. "It feels weird that I can go outside now, since I'm not grounded. What do you want to do?" Ellie queried from her place at the sink.

Joel thought about the possibilities for a moment. He glanced around, noticing his fishing pole by the door, his guitar on the couch, and the deck of cards on the table. He leaned back, and caught sight of Ellie's open closet. It gave him an idea. "How about we go get you some new clothes? You could use some pyjamas and t-shirts. Your wardrobe has been through a lot, and some of it hasn't come back in one piece."

Ellie stared at him in disbelief, thinking she hadn't heard right. "Wait, you mean like…shopping? I don't know about you, Dad, but there aren't any shopping malls in the middle of nowhere, let alone after the Apocalypse." She snorted as she dried the dishes and put them back in the cabinets.

"Tommy said they have some clothes they've scavenged over time in one of the warehouses. He said we're welcome to take a look. He mentioned something about supplies being stored in warehouses two and three. I go there to get our food." Joel answered, getting up from his chair. He walked towards the door, and Ellie followed him, grinning happily.

When they arrived at said warehouses, the pair met up with Maria, who greeted them warmly. She guided them through the labyrinth of crates, boxes, and just about every other kind of container you could put something in. Ellie gazed around in amazement at all the different goods stored in the warehouse. There was flour, grain, sugar, dried fruit, and assorted building materials, to name a few. Joel also seemed impressed at the amount of things the town had at its disposal.

Maria noticed their looks of awe and commented, "We trade frequently with other settlements. You know, the ones that don't want to ransack us and murder the townspeople? We also have frozen goods in warehouse three. Well, here you go Ellie, this is our clothing department. Maybe Joel can find something in here, too? I'm getting real tired of seeing him wear the same shirt all the time. Take what you want, just remember there are others who need clothes, too." She smirked and stepped back to let them through.

Behind her were a couple of tables with clothes laid out on them. One pile was for babies and small children. Others were obviously for men, women, and adolescents. Ellie's eyes lit up at the selection. She rooted through the heap of clothes for teenagers. "Wow, where did you find this stuff? Some of it looks like it's actually new." The redhead held up a blue t-shirt with faded, white butterflies outlined on the front. She smiled as she determined it was the right size for her.

Maria shrugged, leaning against a crate. "People come and go, leaving things behind. Nothing goes to waste here. Sometimes we get shipments from other settlements that have clothing to spare. Once every three or four months, a few of us make the journey to a mall about two days' ride from here." She stated, watching Ellie in amusement as she measured a pair of pyjama pants against her legs.

Joel eyed a blue, collared shirt for men and picked it up, putting it over his pale green one. It was a size too big, but he held on to it. Beggars couldn't be choosers, and he kept looking. Ellie found two more t-shirts and a couple of pairs of socks and underwear, along with her pyjama pants. Joel ended up with his blue shirt, a gray pair of sweatpants to wear around the house, a white-gone-gray t-shirt, and a dark green pullover. Satisfied, they thanked Maria and headed home. Ellie found it strange that she didn't see Jason on her way to or back from the warehouse, but assumed he was working in the barn. She planned to visit him after she had put her new clothes away.

Once back in the house, Ellie hung her clothing on the hangars in her bedroom closet, and folded anything that wouldn't fit, placing it on the shelves. She asked Joel if she could go back to the barn, and he waved her off, plucking at his guitar on the front porch. Ellie jogged over to the barn, being careful not to push her ankle too hard, and arrived at the place fresh-faced and slightly sweaty from the heat outside. There wasn't a cloud in the sky today to offer a reprieve from the sun's harsh rays.

Ellie found the boy riding his black and white filly in one of the grassier, larger paddocks behind the circular arena. He wasn't in there alone; his father was coaching him from the side as he rode. Jason was trying to herd three calves into a small pen at the other end of the paddock. A portable forge was set up over there, with a metal rod sticking out of the coals.

"Don't get too close, boy! Weave her back and forth, else you'll scare them!" Shane called out to his son as he scattered the three calves. Jason cantered around once more, regrouping them.

"Hey Shane, what are you up to?" Ellie queried as she climbed up onto the wooden fence.

The balding man turned around in surprise. "Oh! Didn't hear ya coming, Ellie! We're just branding calves. We're going to get the rest of them out from the pasture tomorrow, and do the same to any little ones we find." Shane gave her a tired smile, and wiped the sweat from his brow. It was already boiling outside, and it wasn't even noon. Ellie could see the old man was soaked in sweat.

The redhead glanced at Jason to see if he was suffering in the heat as much as his father was. Ellie was surprised to see that the boy had a different idea. He was riding his horse with only jeans and a worn cowboy hat on. She watched him more intently.

"That's it; now get them into the pen! Nice n' easy, don't get them excited!" Shane encouraged, breaking Ellie's focus on Jason. She self-consciously bit her lip as she scolded herself for staring at him. Shane turned to the redhead and asked, "Have you ever herded cattle before? We're a hand short."

The young girl raised her eyebrows at him, and shook her head fervently. "Me? I haven't even gotten within five feet of a living cow before. I don't know how to herd the things."

The older man sighed, ruffling his graying hair with one hand. "Well, why don't you try? It's not too hard; you just have to work together with your horse. The cows do whatever you want if you know how. You see, I'd ask one of the boys, but they're all off on a hunting trip until Thursday. It'll be only me and Jason herding 20 head of cattle, and it's a three-person job. My boy says you're a natural with horses."

Ellie looked down, unsure. "I don't know…how long will we be out there?"

"Well, if we go at dawn, we'll make it back by suppertime. We have a herd about ten miles from here and cows don't move very fast. You can be at the front leading them; Jason and I can watch the back and get any stragglers. What do you say?" Shane explained, keen to get another person on the job. Not many were willing to leave the safety of the town, let alone their families. Not many knew how to ride horses, either.

The red-haired girl let out a long breath, and nodded. "I'll have to ask Joel, but I think he'll let me go if he knows there's another adult around. Aren't you ever worried someone will shoot your cows and use them for meat?" She asked, giving the man a quizzical look. There were bandits all over the place, and having a herd far away from town couldn't be good for the cows.

"Oh, all the time. Thing is, we have sentries up there, waiting to shoot anyone who tries to steal our cattle. We switch every four days or so, and three people ride out to relieve them, and the other three come back with the horses. We have to get them back now for branding." The older man whopped as Jason closed the gate, triumphant in herding the calves. He trotted over and dismounted the horse, giving Ellie a hug.

"Good morning to you, too. Your dad says I can come with you to herd cows tomorrow." Ellie said, earning a sceptical look from Jason. "Hey, don't give me that. You're the one who recommended me, dumbass." She shoved him playfully, and he quickly captured her in a headlock.

While Ellie tried to escape, Shane chuckled at the two of them. "You two are priceless. I said she could come, but we have to teach her to herd cows. Let her ride Pixie, she's a good cow horse. She's a natural with those little ones; you just have to let her do her thing." The older man pointed to the black and white filly, and Ellie managed to squirm out of Jason's headlock.

"Wait, you want me to ride _her_? I saw this horse buck Jason off yesterday, and he's a better rider than me! No way in hell I'm getting on her!" The redhead backed away from the black and white horse looking terrified.

Shane huffed, crossing his arms. "Now, now, just because she's young doesn't mean she's a wild horse. She's picky, but trust me, first time I rode her out to the pasture a month ago, it was like she was on autopilot. I didn't have to do a thing! Jason here just pushes her too far." He earned an angry glare from his son for that comment.

Ellie cautiously approached the horse, petting her nose. "There, there Pixie…I'm Ellie, no need to be afraid." She cooed, letting the horse get used to her. She threw an anxious look back at Jason and Shane, who smiled at her encouragingly. Ellie grabbed hold of the reins, put her foot in the stirrup, and then pulled herself up onto the horse.

Pixie threw her head up, eying her new rider. The redhead guided her out into the paddock, and Jason ran over to the miniature pen, letting the calves out. At the sight of the other animals, the Paint horse immediately picked up a canter without Ellie's permission. Caught off guard, the young girl pulled on the reins to slow the horse down, but she refused.

"Don't try to stop her, just guide her around the calves! Pixie knows what she's doing!" Shane called from behind the fence. Ellie relaxed a little bit and made a wide circle around the bovines. Once they were rounded up, she understood the problem Jason had before. Pixie would get too excited, and try to run up behind them. She restrained the horse as best as she could, breaking her canter by weaving her back and forth behind the calves. Pixie never went faster than a trot at Ellie's command, and soon the three calves were back in the pen. Shane ran over and shut the gate.

After Ellie had dismounted, the gray-haired man gave her a hearty pat on the back. Ellie stumbled, but caught herself before she could fall in the drying mud. "That a girl, I knew you could do it! It's not that hard, huh?" Shane beamed, taking the reins from her.

As they passed Jason, the redhead gave him a satisfied smirk, feeling good that she was better than him at something, for once. He responded with narrowed eyes; being one-upped like that did not sit well with him. Jason followed the pair into the barn and untacked his horse. Shane went back out to brand the calves.

When Pixie had been put into her stall, Ellie grabbed Jason's hand and ran out of the barn with him. "We're telling my dad I'm going with you tomorrow. He'll say yes, I know he will." She quickly explained, only giving the boy enough time to put his shirt back on.

Jason gave her a nervous look, remembering the first time he had seen Joel. He hadn't appeared very friendly. They arrived at Ellie's house all too soon, and the man in question glanced up from his guitar. He eyed Jason warily, and set aside his instrument.

"Jason, we meet again. My Ellie holds you in high regard, boy. Can't say the same for me, though." Joel stated, never taking his eyes off the dark-haired boy. The older man got up and motioned the pair inside. They sat at the wooden table, Joel on one side and Ellie and Jason on the other.

"Joel…uh, Dad, I need to ask you something…" Ellie bit her lip and Joel remained silent, letting her continue. "Can I go herd cattle tomorrow with Jason and Shane? We'll only be gone for the day." She said calmly, though inside her heart was racing.

Joel breathed deeply through his nose, exhaling loudly in the silence that followed. "I'm not letting you go with strangers to the middle of nowhere to get cattle. What if bandits attack you? I'd never see you again." He stated in a negative tone.

"But Dad, we're going to be riding back with three other men; snipers. They watch the pastures to make sure no one shoots the cattle. If bandits did attack us, we'd stand a damn good chance against them. Plus I can handle myself, you've seen me." The redhead crossed her arms. She couldn't believe Joel still thought of her as a child after all they had been through.

The older man thought about the situation, pinching the bridge of his nose. "I'll only let you go if I come with you. You have four horses, right?" He directed the question at Jason, who nodded his hand. Joel vaguely remembered that the sign meant 'yes'.

Ellie groaned in frustration, "Why can't you let me do anything without you? I'm going to be fifteen, for shit's sake! There'll be adults around, and Jason respects me. He's not an ass like the other boys around here."

Joel read into that comment, raising an eyebrow. Ellie knew immediately that she had said too much, and ducked her head. The older man leaned forward, leering at them both. "First of all, every time I let you out of my sight, something bad happens to you. Second of all, are you implying that you're in a relationship with this boy? When did this happen?" He growled protectively. How did he miss something that was happening right under his nose? Tommy was right; he got fucking old.

The redhead hunched her shoulders even more, and felt a blush creeping up her cheeks. "Well, it kind of started out as becoming friends that day I ran away, and sort of took off from there. I guess it became official when Jason kissed me last night, after the party." She waited for the worst, gauging Joel's expression. For the moment, his face was blank as he put the pieces together.

"Jason, is it true you kissed my daughter?" His expression slowly transformed into a look of anger as the young boy nodded.

"Dad, it's not such a bad thing! I like him, I really-" Ellie tried to defend the dark-haired boy, but Joel pointed to the door.

"Get out, boy. I don't want you near my daughter again." The older man ordered harshly. Jason gave Ellie a sorrowful look, kissed her cheek as a last act of defiance, and glared at Joel for a moment, conveying his sadness and anger as best as he could through his eyes. He left the table, and shut the door behind him. Jason never wanted his voice back more than now, to be able to defend himself against Joel, and to tell Ellie how he truly felt about her in front of her father. The only consolation he got was hearing Ellie admit her feelings towards him out loud.

The red-haired girl fought hard to keep the tears back. "How could you, Joel? You've had your heart torn to shreds so many times; you've forgotten how it feels to fall in love with someone! You can't even tell when _I _fall in love with someone before you kick them to the curb. I had something with Jason, and you fucking ruined it! Thanks a lot, Dad." The tears spilled over, and Ellie ran to her room. She made sure to slam to door behind her and buried her face in her pillow.

Joel sat at the table, listening to Ellie sob in her room. It made his heart ache again, but he reminded himself he was her father now. He wasn't her friend, and he sure as hell wasn't going to let her go out with some boy she only met last week. Ellie was too young for a boyfriend. Joel also wasn't going to give into every whim and fancy of hers, because that would just be bad parenting.

Ellie didn't talk to her surrogate father for the rest of the day and Joel spent it in the office, going through the registration papers Tommy had given him. It reminded the older man of looking over bills and tax payments back before the infection, which just made the process worse. However, Tommy needed these papers back so he could include the household in the food registry.

For a growing town, Tommy didn't overlook any details. _"That's what makes him perfect for the job." _Joel thought as he read over yet another form, _"He's a fucking nitpicker." _

When Joel was finished with the papers, it was dinnertime. They had pasta with cream sauce, which Joel had gotten when Ellie was out. She still wasn't talking to him, and he didn't push it. They went to bed early, and Ellie cried herself to sleep that night. It wasn't any easier for Joel, who was slowly coming to regret his decision of forbidding his daughter to see a boy he didn't approve of. _"__Come to think of it, I'd probably never approve of anyone Ellie chooses to go out with. That still doesn't change my decision." _He thought as he turned off the light in his room, and drifted off to sleep.


	8. Gone

When morning came, Ellie woke up feeling just as saddened and angry at Joel as she did when she went to bed. At least the old man let her have her space, or she might have exploded if he didn't. The young girl glanced out her window to see that it was fogged up.

"_It must have rained last night…" _Ellie thought as she climbed out of bed and changed into jeans and a light sweater. The weather seemed to mirror her mood: gloomy. Jason had been a light that pierced through the blanket of darkness covering her mind, and it had been snuffed out by Joel. Now, Ellie wasn't much better off than she had been on her first day back in Jackson County.

The redhead walked out of her room, and saw her surrogate father sitting at the table. He had a large, brown paper bag on the table, which meant he had recently gotten more food. He hadn't made breakfast yet, which Ellie thought was odd. Usually, the older man would have it ready before she got up. Joel picked his head up at the sound of her footsteps, and motioned to the chair opposite him. Ellie raised an eyebrow, curious. She sat down as requested, and waited for Joel to talk.

The older man cracked his knuckles, letting a breath of air escape through his lips. Talking to Ellie about relationships was certainly _not _his forte. However, it had to be done; else she would probably continue shunning him for a long while.

"Ellie, I know I was a bit…harsh last night, but I want to get some things straight. I'm your father now, and there are certain things I don't particularly approve of. You know what I'm getting at?" Joel began, obviously uncomfortable with the conversation. He shifted in his seat, and for a moment his tough exterior cracked, showing the insecurities and worry that lay beneath.

The young girl crossed her arms, nodding. "You mean dating?" She responded bluntly. If she was right about where this was going, she didn't want to be a part of the conversation.

"Yes, and I know that you like this boy and he likes you, too. I just want you to be careful because at your age, you get certain…urges that might lead to more than just kissing. You follow me?" Joel folded his hands, glancing down at them for a moment. He never expected he would have to teach Ellie about what happens between men and women in romantic relationships at her age, but he felt last night was too close for comfort.

Ellie mentally groaned with dread. This conversation _was _going where she thought it was. She understood now why Joel was so protective and angry at Jason the previous evening. He probably suspected there was more going on between them than she was telling him, which there was, but they weren't the kinds of things he was thinking of.

The redhead meekly nodded, her anger dissipating like the mist outside. "I know what you're getting at, but you don't have to worry about me. As I said before, Jason respects me and he would never pressure me to do anything I didn't want to. Okay, so maybe he might have had a _little _bit to drink the night he kissed me, but it's not like he tried to fuck with me or anything." She gave Joel a small smile, trying to ease his worry. Despite the awkwardness of the conversation, Ellie appreciated that he cared about her so much.

An unwelcome image popped into Joel's head at his daughter's last phrase, and he shook it to get it out. "That boy _drinks_? Ellie…" He growled in warning, tensing more than he already was.

"He just had a sip of rum what's-her-face brought…Gemma, I think. I didn't have any, and I don't know how well Jason can handle alcohol. Anyway, he was the only one that wasn't an ass at that party. Can't you give him another chance? You didn't even get to know him before you kicked him out of the house." Ellie frowned, leaning back in her chair. Now that Joel had somewhat explained himself, it would make sense that he should rethink his decision, the redhead reasoned.

Joel rested his forehead in his hand, sighing. Jason _did _make Ellie happy, and there was nothing that tore at his already battered heart more than seeing her depressed. She was unhappy without the boy, and as much as the old man hated to admit it, there were some things he just couldn't provide for her that Jason could. "That boy has one more chance to prove himself worthy of dating my little girl. If he breaks your heart, I have a bullet with his name on it." He gave her a rare smirk, and Ellie bounded over to him, tackling him in a hug.

"Thank you, thank you! I love you so much for this!" The red-haired girl squealed in delight, but it was muffled by Joel's shirt.

"I love you too, baby girl. Now what do you want for breakfast? All this emotional drama's made me hungry." The older man chuckled, kissing the top of Ellie's head.

The young girl let go, still beaming. She rummaged around in the fridge and found a small bottle of milk. It gave her an idea, and she closed the fridge door, searching around for the remaining ingredient. Ellie rooted through the paper bag on the table as Joel watched her bemusedly. She pulled out a carton of eggs, and put it aside. She tossed a small bag of green onions and regular onions at her adopted father, who caught it. Ellie smiled as she found what she was looking for: a medium-sized bag of white flour.

"We're making pancakes for breakfast. Do we have any big bowls?" The redhead queried, glancing at Joel. He pointed to one of the bottom cupboards. Ellie sorted through the pots and pans she found in the cupboard, and pulled out an appropriately-sized glass bowl. She started whisking the milk and flour together until it transformed into batter, and then heated up a pan on the stove, frying it. The smell of pancakes wafted from the stove, making her mouth water.

Joel smiled as he brought out plates and utensils. "Smells good, Ellie. I wish we had maple syrup, but you can only get that stuff in Canada. The real stuff, I mean." He commented as Ellie served him a couple of pancakes, straight from the pan. He bit into one, savouring the taste. It was better than anything he could have made, that was for sure. Ellie also served herself a few pancakes, and sat down to eat them.

As she tasted her food she smiled, "Damn, I make good shit. I should cook breakfast more often."

"You could cook dinner too, while you're at it." Joel offered, earning an eye roll from his adopted daughter.

"Oh, very funny. I suppose you'll ask me to clean the house and make pigs fly after I'm done cooking dinner?" Ellie joked, starting on her second pancake.

The older man sighed wistfully, also starting his second pancake. "If only, if only. What are you going to do now that Jason's off herding cattle? I could teach you to fish, or swim." He suggested, longing for some father-daughter time. That boy kept hogging his baby girl.

The red-haired girl thought about the offer. "It looks too cold to swim, but I wouldn't mind fishing. Who knows, maybe we might catch dinner?" She smiled and gathered up the plates, washing them in the sink. When she was finished, Joel grabbed his fishing rod, Ellie took the small cooler, and the pair headed out of town towards the river.

The morning mist gave the forest around them a fairy-tale quality as they walked. It floated in wisps around the trees, and the sunlight peeking through the canopy made it shine a golden colour. Ellie reminded herself that she needed to get out of town to go hiking more often. The forest was beautiful, and much quieter than the town. It was peaceful out here, with birds softly chirping and the gentle breeze whispering through the leaves. Joel seemed more relaxed out here, as well. He always liked the forest.

After about half-an-hour, the pair arrived at a rocky area where the river gently flowed along. This was the spot Tommy had taken Joel to, and he said this was one of the best fishing spots because the river didn't flow so fast here. Ellie also saw some other men fishing, standing precariously close to the water. She had no idea how they could keep their balance on the smooth, wet rocks, let alone reel in a fighting fish without slipping. Joel sat down on a large, dry rock and patted the spot next to him. Ellie obliged and sat down as her surrogate father began showing her how to use a fishing rod. It didn't seem difficult, but the redhead found it a challenge to cast the line far enough so that the lure wouldn't get caught on the rocks.

Once Ellie got the hang of it she asked, "So what do we do now?"

"Now we wait. If you feel a tugging on the line, reel it in like I showed you." Joel explained in a casual drawl, laying down on the rock. He folded his arms behind his head, closed his eyes, and let the warm sunshine and sounds of the flowing river calm his thoughts.

The novelty of fishing quickly wore off for Ellie as she sat in the sun, holding the fishing rod. Joel had gone to sleep, and there was nothing to do but watch the line and the other side of the river. Ellie saw a man whoop in triumph as he reeled in a large trout, but otherwise nothing was happening. She felt herself drifting off in the serene environment, and yawned widely.

Suddenly, the red-haired girl felt a pulling sensation on her line, and stood up. She tried to snag whatever was tugging on the other end, and reeled her line in. Joel woke up with a start, wondering what the commotion was all about. He smiled as he saw Ellie fighting to reel the line in.

"That's it, not too fast or you'll lose it. Let the fish tire itself out, and keep the line taut." The older man instructed, never taking his eyes off the river. He saw something leap out of the water, and excitement bubbled up inside of him. Ellie fought for a few more minutes, and eventually she saw her catch flop against the rocks. She dragged it further out of the water, and held up the struggling trout. It wasn't as big as the one she witnessed the other man catch, but it was a decent size. The fish struggled for freedom in her grasp, but to no avail. Joel filled the cooler up with water, and unhooked the fish so it could swim around in it.

"Great job, Ellie! It's not a bad size, either. Did the little guy tire you out?" Joel guessed, seeing Ellie wipe the sweat from her brow.

The redhead gave her adopted father a tired smile. "A little. That fish didn't want to go down without a fight. You wanna try?" She offered the fishing pole to the older man, and he cast the line out again. It was her turn to take a nap.

By noon, the fish had stopped biting and Joel had caught another two trout. Ellie's stomach rumbled with hunger and the pair walked back to town, satisfied with their catch. They had fried fish for lunch and froze the rest. Once they were finished their meal, they heard a knock at the door.

Joel opened it to find Tommy. He had a smile plastered on his face, and Joel raised an inquisitive eyebrow. "To what do I owe the occasion of your visit, little brother?" The older man drawled, letting his sibling in.

Tommy sat down at the table. "I just wanted to know if you would like to join Maria and me for dinner tonight. Now that you're settled in and all, she's been badgering me to invite you two over. What do you say?" He explained, eager for their answer.

"That sounds like a plan. We aren't doing anything tonight. What time?" Joel questioned, checking the oven clock. It was about two in the afternoon.

"6 o'clock, and don't be late. Maria hates it when people don't arrive on time. Well, I've got a town to run, so I'll see you two later." The younger man waved them off and left Joel and Ellie to themselves.

Joel shook his head after his brother. "Is it me, or is Tommy's life run by Maria these days? If so, I'm not hankering to get married anytime soon." He chuckled and glanced over at Ellie. She shrugged at his comment.

Ellie suddenly snapped her fingers as she remembered something. "Oh shit, Jason probably left stuff for me to do while he's gone…when 6 o'clock rolls around, can you come get me at the barn?" She didn't wait for an answer as she sprinted out the door.

The redhead ran all the way to the barn, and searched for any kind of list Jason might have left. She found a piece of paper taped to Pixie's stall door. Ellie tore it off and read,

_Muck out all stalls. Straw is behind the barn under the tarp._

_Beauty and Coppertone get ½ cup of grain at dinnertime, and half a bale of hay each. You can ride them, but turn them in for the night. Beauty doesn't have a saddle, but her bridle is the one closest to the saddles._

_Make sure all water buckets and troughs in paddocks are filled. Hose is behind the barn. _

_Wash tack, including Beauty's harness. Make sure leather is damp before using saddle soap. It's in the cupboard. _

_We'll be back by nightfall. –Jason._

The redhead groaned at all the work Jason left her, but was determined not to disappoint him. She grabbed the pitchfork and wheelbarrow, and set to work mucking out all twelve stalls. Fortunately, five of them were actually dirty since they were used, and the other seven weren't as bad. Ellie found the straw and spread it around evenly in stalls that needed it. By the time she was done, she estimated it had taken at least an hour and a half, judging by the position of the sun outside.

Ellie lugged water buckets to and from the tap outside the barn, bringing them there empty and carrying them back full. She tried using the hose to fill them inside the barn, but discovered it only went halfway. She did the same for the water troughs, although the hose was only long enough to reach a couple of them. Ellie flopped down on a few bales of straw outside the barn, soaked in sweat. Her back ached and so did her arms. "_No wonder Jason is so lean; he does this kind of thing every single day." _The redhead thought as she stared up at the blue sky for a few minutes.

After Ellie decided her break was over, she went into the tack room to clean the two saddles and bridles left behind. At least she got to sit down for the job. The young girl made sure there wasn't a spec of dirt on the leather, and then replaced them. She also cleaned the tangle of leather straps that was Beauty's plowing harness, and wondered how anyone could train such a huge animal to pull a machine like a plow. Smiling at her work, Ellie folded up the harness and hung it back on its hooks in the tack room.

With nothing else to do, the redhead decided sweeping the barn couldn't hurt. She swept all the straw and dirt to the sides of the aisle, and looked at the sun to see she still had an hour or so before the horses had to be turned in and fed. She was bordering on exhaustion, but curiosity burned within her. What was it like to ride a giant horse like Beauty?

Ellie walked out of the barn and saw the Clydesdale eating hay in one of the paddocks. She decided to answer her own question and went to grab a halter and lead rope. Beauty snorted at the sight of the redhead, turning her head to look at her with gentle brown eyes. Ellie slipped the halter over the horse's head and led her inside the barn to groom her. She had watched Jason groom a horse before, after one of their midnight rides, and copied what she remembered.

When Beauty was clean, another question popped into Ellie's head. How could you get on a horse this big without a saddle? She glanced around and spied the tall, wooden fence that made up the circular arena behind the barn. Ellie led Beauty inside of it, and climbed onto her using the fence. The horse stood quietly as Ellie settled herself on her back, and walked forward at a kick of her heels. The redhead guided the horse out into the big, grassy paddock she had ridden in the day before, and rode a few laps on her. The horse had a wide back, which made riding very comfortable.

Ellie tried trotting, but almost lost her balance trying to keep up with the horse's huge stride. After a few tries, she got used to it and found it fun, bouncing as the big horse trotted along. Beauty seemed to like being ridden. The horse had an excited air around her; Ellie assumed she didn't get ridden much because of her size and lack of saddle. After about an hour, the sun was already setting, and the redhead hurried to get Beauty and Coppertone, the chestnut Paint horse, inside. She quickly fed them and turned out the lights. She was just in time because Joel was already walking up the path to get her.

"You can't go to Tommy's smelling like that. Take a shower, and then we'll go." Joel stated as Ellie ran up to him and skidded to a stop at his side. She nodded in agreement and once they got home, she quickly took a shower, changed into her blue and white butterfly shirt and her other pair of jeans. The two walked over to Tommy's house, which was a few streets over. It was a two-story house and looked to be in better condition than Joel and Ellie's. Someone had even painted the outside of it white.

Tommy opened the door as he heard the pair walking up the front steps. He welcomed them warmly and showed them to the table. The first floor was composed of the kitchen, dining room, and living room. Joel assumed the door at the end of the hall was the bathroom, and bedrooms were located on the top floor. Tommy had polished furniture and photos on the walls. Overall, he had a very modern-looking house.

Maria greeted the pair from the kitchen as they sat down. She walked over carrying two plates. One had roast beef on it, and the other mashed potatoes. She smiled as Ellie's eyes widened at the food. "Haven't had anything this nice for a long time, huh? Tommy made the roast himself. He's not a bad cook when he puts his mind to it. I'll bring the veggies in a minute." Maria said as she set the plates down. Ellie dug into her potatoes as Tommy cut the beef into slices. He served Ellie and Joel the meat, and then served himself.

"So, how's everything been for you guys? We've been so busy; we haven't had time to visit." Maria started as she set a pot of peas on the table. She sat down and served herself.

Ellie shrugged, swallowing a chunk of meat. "It's been great. Joel took me fishing today and we caught some trout. I worked for the whole afternoon in the barn since Jason and Shane are gone."

Maria nodded, and turned to Joel. The older man pursed his lips, thinking of something to say. "I like it here. It's quiet, peaceful, and the neighbours keep to themselves." He summarized, forking more potatoes into his mouth.

Tommy swung his fork in his hand as he said, "Speaking of Jason and Shane, they should be back by now. I've been out herding those cattle before, and we've always come back at around this time. I'm starting to get worried." The younger man's brow creased, and he clenched his jaw.

The blonde woman sitting beside him soothingly rubbed his shoulder. "You worry too much, Tommy. I'm sure they're fine. Now shut up and eat your dinner." Tommy obliged and put more meat into his mouth. The rest of the dinner went quietly, and everyone chatted at the table after everything had been cleared away.

After about another half-hour, Ellie felt the table begin to shake. "Uhh…why is the table moving? It's not supposed to do that…" She commented and glanced up to see concerned looks on the faces of the people around her. Maria's walkie-talkie beeped from the kitchen counter, and she went to answer it.

"They're back. C'mon Ellie, you wanna see cows walking down the street?" Tommy smiled as Ellie nodded and they both went outside. Since they were close to the main street in the town, they could see cows trotting along under the street lamps. Ellie squinted to see if she could spot Jason, but couldn't make out anyone's faces in the darkness.

Maria stepped outside with Joel, a grave look on her face. "I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but the herding didn't go so well. Kyle, one of the sentries that were out there today, just told me they got attacked by bandits. Howard and Shane got shot, Dustin was killed, and Jason…well one of those bastards kidnapped him and his horse."


	9. Escape Artist

**A/N: From this point on, I will be switching between the perspectives of Ellie and Jason, so the story might skip around a bit. I apologize for any confusion. The story will also take a darker turn from here on out and may include violence, discomforting scenes, etc. Anyway, be sure to leave a comment and enjoy!**

Jason awoke with a silent groan, rubbing the back of his aching head. His whole body throbbed, every heartbeat sending a dull wave of pain throughout it. Jason was lying on his back, his limbs felt weak, and he was cold. He had no idea how many days it had been, or what time of day it even was. His vision slowly came into focus, and he glanced around at his surroundings. The dark-haired boy determined he was in some kind of dark room with no windows. After a few minutes of letting his eyes adjust, Jason could make out more of his new environment. Wooden rafters spanned the length of the ceiling, a staircase was located somewhere off to his left, and aside from the musty blanket he was laying on, the room was essentially a concrete cube with a wooden ceiling. Corroded, rusted pipes and what used to be pink insulation lined the walls. It was your typical basement.

The dark-haired boy attempted to sit up, and when a wave of dizziness passed he stood up to check the numerous pockets of his army pants. His switchblade that he always carried with him was gone, and so was his pistol and ammo. Jason tried to remember how he had ended up here. A vague memory of a lush meadow, cows, and horses surfaced from the murky depths of his memories. Yes, he had been herding cattle back to Jackson County with his father and a few other men. The sound of gunshots echoed through his mind, and made him wince. He remembered a man was riding his horse with him, a man named Dustin. He was in his mid-thirties, with blonde hair and wearing an old, black vest with a gray sweater underneath. Jason cringed again at the memory of the man falling off Pixie, blood spurting from his head. The fear and panic he had felt momentarily gripped him again, but quickly passed. Then…anything that happened afterwards was blank. He couldn't recall how he had gotten here, or why the bandits that had attacked his group decided to let him live. He didn't know if his father was alive, or what had happened to his beloved horse, Pixie.

Jason held his head in his hands, feeling a wave of despair wash over him. He shook his head vigorously, deciding that if he was going to answer those questions and get out of here, he needed an escape plan. He glanced around, and noticed a light shining from under the closed door at the top of the staircase. It was either daytime, or someone was up there with a lantern. He crept up the stair as quietly as he could, clenching his jaw every time there was a creak of protest from the old wood.

The boy put his ear to the door and listened. He could hear muffled voices from the other side; the voices of men.

"Why the hell do we have to be guarding this kid? He was knocked out cold the last time I checked, and the door's locked. It's not like he could get out." The voice of one man complained. He sounded like he was in his thirties, or early forties.

"That's not just any random kid, Carl. He was part of the Denver Armed Forces. I saw it on his tattoo. I don't know what the fuck a Cobra is, but it sounds dangerous. The boy could probably kill us with a spoon." A second man responded in a gruff voice. He reminded Jason of an older Joel. Jason heard a faint tinkling of metal against metal, and immediately knew one of them had keys.

Carl spoke again. "A lot of people don't even need spoons to kill someone, Paul. No wonder Sampson says to give every new recruit a double dose; otherwise they'd try to strangle us every time we walked in. Where'd we get this kid, anyway? Fuck, it's getting late. What time are Jerry and Ian going to relieve us?" The man audibly yawned and Jason heard the tinkling of metal again. He determined Carl had the keys.

Paul yawned as well, and there was a short pause. "At about one in the morning. We have half-an-hour. Riley said the boy came from a settlement about two day's ride east of here. Hey, it's been an hour since you checked on the kid. He should be awake by now. I'll get the food and drugs Sampson gave us. They should make him obedient real quick." Carl and Paul chuckled quietly, and Jason took that as his cue to creep down the stairs. He crouched out of sight and waited.

Sure enough, he heard the door open at the top of the stairs and shielded his eyes from the harsh glare of the electric lantern being carried down. The light cast a man's shadow across the walls of the basement, and Jason heard the jingling of keys again. He hid under the staircase, waiting for the man to come into view. He _had _to get those keys.

Carl glanced around, confused at the apparent disappearance of the prisoner. He set a small, metal tray of food and water down, shrugged and started back up the stairs. Jason silently crept out from under the staircase, careful not to come into the light cast by the lantern. He waited until Carl had gone up a few steps, came up behind him, and threw the man against the wall. The guard yelped in surprise, and Jason slugged him across the face a few times. He managed to throw the keys off his belt before the older man elbowed him hard in the ribs and kicked him away. Paul came running down the stairs and kicked Jason down as he started to get up again. He pinned the boy's arms behind his back, and pointed his revolver at his head.

"Feisty one, are you? You'll make a good recruit. Get the rope, Carl, and tie him up. We can't have this one escaping." The second watchman said as he placed a foot on Jason's back, ensuring he couldn't turn over and kick him. The dark-haired boy struggled, but to no avail. He felt his hands being tied up, and the rope made his wrists itch.

Paul bent down and pulled Jason's head up by his hair. The boy winced as the guard growled threateningly, "Pull something like that again, and it'll be the stockade for you. You're not going back to your friends anytime soon, kid." He released Jason and headed up the stairs with Carl.

Carl patted his belt to make sure everything was in place. He rubbed his jaw and tasted blood on his lip. He realized his keys were gone. "The fucking kid stole my keys! Gave me a bloody lip, too. Where'd you put them, you little bastard?" The guard walked up to Jason and kicked him in the ribs. The boy gasped and curled up in pain, throwing a defiant glare at the man.

Paul trudged down the staircase again and picked up the lantern Carl had dropped in the skirmish. He shone light around the basement, and spotted the keys a few feet from Jason. The man picked them up and gave them to his partner, who kicked Jason hard one last time for good measure. The pair left and locked the door behind them.

The dark-haired boy gasped and coughed as he tried to get his breath back, and hissed in frustration. It was the only sound he could make, besides whistling. He wasn't very good at it, though. Jason lay on the cold concrete floor for a few minutes, letting the ache in his ribs subside. He spied the metal tray of food and water, somehow untouched by the fight. He shuffled over to it on his knees, ignoring his protesting ribs. He hadn't had any nourishment in at least two days, and his empty stomach growled in anticipation.

Inspecting the food, Jason determined it was canned beans. He sniffed it, and then remembered the guards talking about the drugs they put in. He wasn't sure what form the narcotics were in, or what kind they even were, but he didn't want to know what they would do to him. He smelled the water to make sure. An unfamiliar scent wafted from the glass, and he stayed away from it. Jason left the beans alone to be safe drugs weren't mixed in there, as well. As much as he yearned to eat something, he couldn't let the drugs get the better of him.

The dark-haired boy studied his surroundings to find something sharp to cut through the rope. He eyed the glass and tipped it over, spilling the contaminated water and breaking it into large pieces. He carefully bent down and picked a shard up with his hands, hissing as the glass cut into his skin. Jason began cutting the rope that bound his hands, and after what felt like an eternity, they were free. It was back to square one, plotting an escape plan.

Jason thought about climbing the rafters and using the glass to throw at the next unlucky guard from there, but the eroded wood didn't look too strong. Jason thanked himself for wearing his old army pants today. He shoved some large pieces of glass in into a lower pocket on his leg, just in case he needed a weapon. He thought about stealing the keys again, but discarded that idea as the first time didn't go so well. The boy spied an air duct above his head in the darkness, and something clicked in his brain. It led out of the room, but he didn't know if it would take his weight. There was only one way to find out.

Jason shimmied up one of the stronger-looking pipes and up to the rafters. He hung on a beam for a second, and then pulled himself up. The glass cut into his thigh, but he ignored it. The boy kicked out a vent to create an opening in the duct, and winced as it crashed to the ground below him. He heard the surprised shouts of two guards outside the door and frantically situated himself to lay flat on one of the wooden beams. Jason prayed it would hold. His heart pounded in his ears as he watched two unfamiliar men cautiously inch down the stairs. They must have been Ian and Jerry, the replacements for Carl and Paul.

"What do you think that was, Jerry? Carl told me this kid is a crafty son of a bitch." One of the new guards whispered. His voice held fear in it, and he sounded young. Jason guessed he couldn't be older than 20.

"I don't know, Paul told me he was tied up. What the fuck is this kid making noise for?" Another young-sounding watchman answered, and started as he heard the crunch of glass under his foot. He held the lantern closer and noticed the shard with blood on it. The cut rope lay beside it. "Uh, Ian? I don't think the boy is tied up anymore. Look what I found." Jerry motioned his partner, Ian, over.

They both inspected the bloody glass and searched the basement. Jason remained as still as possible, fighting the panic that was rising in his throat. He decided he had two options now: wait for the guards to go back upstairs, or attack them and flee. The glass cut further into his thigh, as if prompting him to throw it. Blood was beginning to seep through his pocket, threatening to drip onto the head of the guard under him. Desperation to escape made him decide to risk it.

Jason drew a piece of glass from his pocket, and dropped down onto Jerry. The man fell to the ground and he quickly cut the watchman's throat. The second guard whirled around in surprise, drawing his pistol and shooting blindly into the darkness. Jason crouched low and rushed the man, taking his pistol and shooting him in the head with it. He listened for any footsteps above him, but heard none. The guard who had his throat cut gurgled and sputtered behind him, slowly choking on his own blood, but Jason paid him no mind. He fished the dying man's pistol out from his holster, and also any other weapons he had. The guard was dead by the time Jason finished looting his partner. The boy managed to scrounge up a pistol, a revolver, two smoke bombs, and a hunting knife. He was set.

An old, familiar feeling settled into the dark-haired boy's mind as he crept up the stairs: numbness. He felt little remorse for the two men he had killed, but they were no different than the other people he had shot back in Denver. A soldier was trained to kill without mercy, and he was a soldier. Remorse for ending a life wasn't part of the equation.

Jason scanned his surroundings once he was out of the basement. He seemed to be in a run-down, two-floor house with smashed in windows and ripped up furniture. The boy could see other houses much like the one he was in across the street and up the road. He was in a small town, by the looks of it. Men patrolled the streets with lanterns, rifles, flashlights, and dogs. Jason hated dogs. He unconsciously fingered the bite wound on his wrist, the one he had gotten last week.

The boy crawled over to a window to study the patrols. There didn't seem to be very large patrols, merely one or two men walking around together. He checked his pistol and revolver for bullets. The guard who had shot at him wasted half the ammo, but the revolver was still full. Jason pocketed the pistol and cocked the revolver, ready to shoot. He crept out of the front door of the house, and took refuge behind a burned-out car. No one had noticed him.

Jason glanced around for Pixie, wondering if they hadn't butchered her for meat already. He shivered involuntarily at the thought. Horses were noble animals, and shouldn't be eaten. The boy spotted movement out of the corner of his eye, and fired his gun on instinct. A man dropped to the ground beside him, cursing and clutching at his chest. Jason heard more shouts from around him, and made a run for it. Adrenaline rushed through his veins as bullets whizzed past him. He ran faster, trying not to let his already injured leg buckle.

The dark-haired boy dove through the window of another house, and shot anyone who was inside. Three men dropped dead, blood pooling around them. Jason pocketed their ammunition and found another smoke bomb. He dared to glance out the window, and saw men running towards the house. There were too many to take down, and the boy scurried further into the house, escaping through the back door. The backyard was fenced, and he climbed over and into the alley between houses. A guard spotted him, and Jason shot him before he could cock his rifle. The man dropped to the ground, screaming in pain. The boy shot him again to shut him up. The watchman remained still, and Jason hurried on.

He could hear dogs barking, and the sounds were getting louder as Jason ran through the labyrinth of houses and alleyways. Fear swelled up inside his chest, which made him sprint faster. The boy's legs and lungs were burning, but he kept on running. Eventually, Jason reached the end of the street. The barking of dogs had faded away, and so had the shouts of patrolmen. The dark-haired boy hid inside an empty house and went up the stairs to the second floor. He collapsed on one of the beds, sending up a large puff of dust. He let his heart calm down so that it was beating at a normal level again. His limbs burned from being exerted so hard for so long.

After his breathing had become normal again, Jason glanced out the window of the room. Looking out onto the street, he could see the tiny dots of light in the distance that were the lanterns and flashlights of watchmen. They would be looking for him, but he was safe for now. They weren't coming any closer, which relieved him. Jason took the time to plan how he would get out of here. Glancing down the street, he saw both ends were blocked off by barricades of cars, barbed wire, and metal stakes. Dilapidated houses loomed beyond them. A concrete wall surrounded the area. He mentally groaned, realizing that in order to get out, he would have to go back the way he came.

The dark-haired boy tended to the small gash on his thigh, where the glass had cut him. It wasn't too bad of a wound, but the blood had ruined his favourite pants. He searched the house for bandages, and found some on the first floor bathroom. Fortunately, he also found a small bottle of 20-year old vodka. Shrugging, he poured some on a decently clean rag he had found in the kitchen and applied it to his wound. The alcohol stung, but the boy grit his teeth and bandaged his leg. He scrounged around for any food, shivering in the unheated house. He found a can of peaches, a can of tomatoes, and a can opener in a drawer in the kitchen. Jason wolfed the food down as fast as he could without choking.

After the small feast was over, Jason went back upstairs and reviewed his options. He needed to find some sort of fast transportation, but he had no idea where Pixie was, or if she was still alive. He wondered if these bandits had other horses, but he doubted it. There wasn't any place to keep them in a tiny town like this. Jason flopped on the bed began to drift off, the adrenaline from his escape wearing off. He stifled a yawn, and his thoughts wandered. He wondered what the people of Jackson County were doing, if they were looking for him. He felt a tugging on his heart as he thought of home and his parents, and it got worse as Ellie came to mind. Jason missed the spunky redhead. She was fun to be around, and just when they had started a relationship, Joel ended it. He wondered whether Ellie had managed to change her father's mind. It still hurt to think that he couldn't see her again, let alone properly ask her out.

The dark-haired boy sighed through his nose and decided a short nap couldn't hurt. He was exhausted. He closed his eyes and was about to fall asleep when he heard a loud bang coming from somewhere below him. Jason froze, fully alert. Had the bandits found him? Had Infected wandered into the town? He listened carefully, but couldn't hear any footsteps. Curious, he cautiously made his way to the staircase, and started as he heard the bang again in the eerie silence of the house. It didn't sound like gunshots, but like someone was throwing an object against metal. He searched his mind for a possible reason, inching closer to where the sound was coming from: the garage.

Jason crept up to the door and listened. He didn't hear any wailing of Infected, or sounds from a Clicker. Were the bandits trying to lure him out by making noise? It was a possibility. Jason listened for a few more seconds, drawing his revolver. He gathered up his courage and was about to open the door when he heard a different noise: a snort. More specifically, a horse's snort. He cocked his head and opened the door, hiding behind the doorpost just in case. Silence enveloped the house for a minute, and the dark-haired boy heard a nicker.

He cautiously entered the dark garage, feeling his way around. Jason bumped into something that moved. He skittered backwards in surprise, pointing his revolver at the looming shape in the darkness. All this running and fighting for his life was making him edgy as hell. The shape moved again, and snorted. As Jason's vision adjusted to the darkened environment, he discerned the outline of a horse and smiled. He slowly approached Pixie, pocketing his gun and hugging her neck. The Paint horse nickered again, and bobbed her head. She nibbled his shirt, glad to see her master.

Jason felt the tension that had kept him on his toes this whole time release, relaxing his mind for once. He ran to the window in the living room of the abandoned house, ducking behind the sagging couch. The lights of the patrolmen were still bobbing around in the darkness, and some were closer now. They didn't seem to want to give up the chase very easily. Dogs barked in the distance.

The dark-haired boy knew galloping through a crowd of grown men with guns was a somewhat stupid idea, but it was the fastest way out of here. Just in case this plan failed, he needed a Plan B. He walked back to the garage. Jason drew the hunting knife he had stolen and cut a small, shallow gash in his index finger. Blood began to drip from the cut, and he moved to Pixie's neck, where he knew one of her white patches was. He couldn't see very well in the darkness, but tried his best to write "2 days E" in blood on the horse's fur.

It was now or never, the dark-haired boy decided. He opened the large door as quietly as he could, but it still creaked and groaned something terrible. Jason heard shouts coming from down the street, and could make out bandits running towards the direction of the noise. He clambered onto Pixie's back and drew his revolver. It was time to leave this dump.

Jason urged his horse into a gallop and trampled the first few men stupid enough to try and stop the charging horse. More men shot at him, and he hunched low over Pixie's neck, kicking her to go faster. The horse gained speed, sensing the urgency of the situation. They were half-way down the street when men tried to grab Jason's legs and throw him off his horse. Pixie bucked every time someone tried to get close, and Jason hacked at them with his knife. Soon the pair was almost at the end of the street, where a gate stood open. Bandits attempted to close the gate, but Jason shot them down. They were through in seconds, and finally free. Freedom however, had a price.

The dark-haired boy gasped in pain as something sharp lodged deep into his left shoulder. He managed to hold on, but only just. A second impact made him fall off his horse, and he hit the ground with an agonizing thud. Jason rolled to a stop, clutching his injured shoulder and writhing in pain. He felt two arrow shafts protruding from it, and blood seeped from the wounds. Pixie continued galloping, too frightened to stop for her injured rider. The boy hoped she would find her way back home.

Jason's vision blurred in and out of focus from the excruciating pain, and the sight of his own blood pooling on the cracked pavement around him made him dizzy. His breath came in short, ragged gasps. He heard cheers and footsteps somewhere in the distance, celebrating his second capture. Jason's exhausted and wounded body finally gave up, and he blacked out.

It was over. He had lost.


	10. Chained

**A/N: I just want to take a moment to thank all my most consistent reviewers: GodofLazors, revencita, Idroppedasock, Awkward Alex, and all of my anonymous reviewers, favouriters and followers! You guys are awesome! **

**On a lower note, it's kind of disappointing to see over 700 visitors and over 1500 views in a matter of days, and less than a handful of kind souls who review chapters…I think you wonderful readers could do a bit better and spend a few minutes letting me know what you liked/didn't like/want to see. Every comment brightens up my day just a little bit more! :)**

**To Reme: I pick names for OC's off the top of my head…I guess Riley just happened to be one of them. **

* * *

Jason had been missing for three days, and hope for his return was wearing thin. Ellie could only describe her current state of mind with one word: numb. He was there one day, and the next he just disappeared off the face of the Earth. It left her shocked, Jason's parents were devastated, and any search parties that had gone out came back with nothing. Even Joel was affected, but mostly because the sudden change in Ellie's mood left him feeling helpless. She wouldn't change until Jason came back, and he knew it. The red-haired girl begged her surrogate father to let her go with the search parties, but he refused. One missing youth was one too many for the town, and they didn't need another one. Joel realized now just how much Ellie felt for this boy, and it tore at his heart to see her in so much emotional pain.

When she wasn't at the barn carrying on Jason's work with a recovering Shane, Ellie sat on the couch or in her room, staring out the window. Her usually lively green eyes were now dull and hollow. It hurt to think of what might have happened to him, and different scenarios constantly plagued her mind. Common scenes that crossed her thoughts were of him being tortured, imprisoned, falling victim to a pack of cannibals, or dead. She didn't know what to think or what to do with herself, and decided that the best way to keep herself sane was to keep busy. The redhead cleaned the house, spent as much time at the barn as possible, and did any odd jobs Tommy and Maria could think of.

Joel tried to talk to Ellie about how she felt, to get her to let off some steam, but she insisted on clamming up and not saying a word. If Jason came back, the older man would give him a piece of his mind for putting Ellie through so much suffering. For the moment, it was all he could do to not get up, grab a horse, and go searching for the boy himself. He stayed in town, doing any jobs Tommy gave him, and spent the free hours of his day watching Ellie's distant, sorrowful gaze.

* * *

As he regained consciousness, Jason realized he didn't feel the hard, uneven pavement under his skin anymore. Instead he felt a soft mattress and a pillow under his head. The dark-haired boy was aware of voices around him, and kept his eyes closed to listen in on the conversation.

"…long as he been out?" A man's deep baritone asked.

"About five hours now. I can't believe he's still breathing. Two arrows in the shoulder outta make for fatal blood loss, but…I guess we got to him in time. Why the fuck did we have to go to such much trouble to save one measly kid? Why didn't we just let him die?" A teenaged girl's voice complained. Jason heard the shifting of plastic, suggesting someone moved their position in a chair. He was getting really tired of being called "kid" all the time. He was sixteen, for shit's sake.

"We've been over this, Izzy. He's smart and tough to be able to escape from jail, kill two guards and six patrolmen, while galloping on a horse. The kid's a good shot, and we need snipers. Plus he's already been in the military, so no training is required! We just have to break him down and build him back up our way." The man gave a quiet chuckle, and Jason didn't like his sadistic optimism.

The boy heard a feminine sigh. "How are we going to do that? The stockade? He'll die of dehydration before his time is up. I don't think we need to drug him, there's no point. He's already injured and he knows he can't get away this time." The girl named Izzy gave a scoff.

"I think you're right. Just give him food and water when he wakes up, and take him to the stockade when he's done. If he's more smart than stupid, he won't try anything. The stiches wouldn't hold if he did. Do a good job and chain him up tight, will you? I've a mind to give this kid a lash for every man he killed yesterday." Jason heard heavy footsteps fade away, and determined the man was gone. It chilled his blood to think of being whipped.

Jason decided it was safe to open his eyes. He stared up at the cracked, marble ceiling of the room he was in, and let his blurry vision come into focus by blinking a few times. The room was bright, which meant it was daytime and he wasn't in a dank, dark basement anymore.

"Finally awake, huh? How are you feeling?" The dark-haired boy lolled his head in the direction of the voice, and his gaze fell on the girl which the man called Izzy. She had piercing gray eyes and black hair tied back in a ponytail. She wore a brown t-shirt and camo pants, with army boots. Jason gave a light snort through his nose. He didn't care much for small talk. His left shoulder throbbed something terrible, and he didn't dare move it.

Izzy raised an eyebrow. "Not much of a talker, are you? I have to congratulate you on your escape attempt last night. Pretty clever if you ask me. Unfortunately you were in clear range of our archers. I'm Isabelle, by the way. Izzy for short. Are you going to tell me your name?" The raven-haired girl asked, crossing her arms.

Jason shook his head, propping himself up by his right elbow. His injured shoulder protested at the movement, and he gritted his teeth against the pain.

"I wouldn't try anything fancy if I were you. Those arrows gave you some pretty deep puncture wounds, but we fixed you up alright. Just a heads up, if you try to escape again we'll shoot you dead. How does becoming a sniper sound? You're not going back anytime soon, so it's only fair we put you to work after your little punishment." Izzy smirked as Jason cocked an eyebrow in question. "Want to know what it is? Three days in the stockade without food and water is the standard for newbies, but since you put in extra effort Dale said he would be happy to give you eight lashes after that time is up. I think it's fair. We value every person in this place, and anyone who dies must be avenged. I'll get you food and water so you don't die out there after day one." She explained, hopping out of her plastic chair and disappearing out the open door.

The dark-haired boy took a moment to examine his surroundings. He had no idea where his shirt went. He seemed to be in the living room of an abandoned house, which had been turned into an infirmary. Four beds were lined up in a row in front of him, and another three were on his right. Outside the open double-door, people milled about going through their daily routines: chopping wood for fires, participating in target practice, and chatting with their comrades and children. The tiny settlement wasn't much different than Jackson County, the only difference being that the majority of the population was men. Jackson County had it more evened out.

Izzy came back after a few minutes with a tray of cream pasta and mushrooms, served with a glass of clear, unscented water. She set the tray down on the nightstand at Jason's bedside, and he was so hungry at this point, he didn't care what was in the food. His throat was so parched that these people could have put drugs in the water and he still would have drank it. Jason gulfed down the food and water, leaving an empty tray in minutes.

The charcoal-haired girl gave him a sad smile as she took the metal tray away. "I hate to see a cute guy get punished so severely, but rules are rules. I have to take you to the stockade and leave you there. C'mon, it'll only get worse if you resist." She stood up and waited for him by the door. Izzy drew a pistol out of her pocket, swinging it around her finger.

Jason wasn't sure how to react. This girl's casual talk about starving him out and whipping him caught him off guard, but he realized he really did have no choice. If he tried to run, he would get shot. His shoulder couldn't take any more of a beating. As much as it hurt his pride to be led to the stockade like a pig to slaughter, he carefully got off the bed and followed Izzy. His legs were sore from so much running last night, but at least they didn't buckle as he walked outside with the raven-haired girl.

Once outdoors, Jason took a moment to stare at the houses around him. They were _huge_. He remembered someone calling big houses mansions, and these were definitely mansions. Some had cracked marble columns at the front, and others had driveways that curved around eroded, weathered, once elaborate fountains. A lot of the roofs seemed to be flat, as well. No wonder so many people could get in his way last night; the street he was on was quite wide to accommodate for the giant houses. Before the infection, very wealthy people must have lived here in this gated community. All that was left of their riches were cracked marble ceilings, dull granite steps, and houses fit for rats: both animal and human.

The clouds blocked the sun's harsh rays, which Jason was grateful for. It would make standing outside much more bearable. Izzy took Jason's right shoulder and prodded him forward using her pistol. The dark-haired boy sighed and obliged, picking up the pace. He thought it was a bit unnecessary, seeing as he couldn't do anything with all the archers and snipers on the roofs above him. However, he did see people giving Izzy approving looks, suggesting she wasn't very high up in the hierarchy. They walked in silence until they turned down an alley that ran alongside the concrete wall at the entrance to the settlement. The gate was closed, dashing Jason's hopes of making a run for it.

At the end of the alley, a small clearing opened up. It used to be someone's backyard, but the fence had been removed and the grass had been dug up. It had been replaced with sand. Four large, wooden posts were arranged in a diamond, with chains around each one. No one was chained to the posts, but that didn't ease the feeling of helplessness that came over Jason as Izzy shoved his back against one of them. She pulled a set of keys out of her pocket and put away her pistol. She unlocked a padlock on the chains, and wrapped a shorter set around his wrists. She wrapped the longer set around Jason's torso, and locked both sets of chains with the padlock.

"There, that should do it. You won't be getting away that easy this time. Well, have fun. See you in three days for your flogging!" Izzy exclaimed in a chipper tone, patting Jason's cheek and jogging off out of sight. Her sadistic cheeriness still unnerved him. It was probably a front, but Jason knew some people, particularly Denver army personnel, who enjoyed violence and spoke of it like an exciting sport. This girl probably grew up with it. Hadn't they all?

Jason let a puff of air escape his lips. What was he supposed to do for three days, chained to a post? These people had really unusual ways to break their victims down, that was for sure. In Jackson County, they just put you in jail for a few days without food, and that was it. The jailers weren't mean enough to expose you to the elements and deny you any hydration. In some ways, it wasn't really that different.

The dark-haired boy looked around for any form of entertainment, but couldn't find any. He had a view of the gate and sentries and watched them for a while, but soon got bored. They didn't do anything but walk around, check their guns, and chat with each other. Jason tried talking to himself, but not much came out besides soft, raspy sounds that resembled words. At least it was progress; when he first got his vocal cords cut a year and a half ago, it hurt to breathe for two weeks. He already knew sign language because of his mother, so he just stuck with that. Jason had been lucky; most of the other Cobras had no form of communication.

Jason attempted to whistle, and eventually succeeded after a good hour of practice. He whistled aimlessly, improvising his own songs. It was fun until whistling made him thirsty, and he stopped. The dark-haired boy then switched to drawing designs in the sand with the toe of his boot. When that got boring, he had a conversation with himself in his head.

"_Jason, why is the sky blue?"_

"_I don't know, Jason. Where does all the salt come from that makes the ocean salty? I don't know that either. If everything allegedly tastes like chicken, what do chickens think everything tastes like? Do fish get thirsty?"_

"_I don't think any of those questions are worth answering…"_

"_Really? I think they're valid questions. Don't you think it's kind of stupid to say heads up when you should obviously duck? That must have killed a lot of people."_

"_I agree. What do you say when someone says you're in denial, but you're not? I don't know, I don't think I'm in denial about anything. Have you ever found out what OK stands for, Jason? Fuck, there are a lot of things I don't know. I wonder if Ellie ever thought about these things. She'd seem like the type of person to ask these questions."_

"_Yeah, too bad you can't talk and ask her. Do you think you'll ever be able to talk again?"_

"_Probably. Severed vocal cords take their sweet-ass time to heal…Then again, I don't think I have access to anyone who could help me talk again using therapy and shit. Back with any retired Cobras, they got their voices back after a couple years. Sure they sound like shit, but at least they don't have to use their hands to talk."_

"_It's funny, though. They force you to enlist at fourteen to be part of the military since you're small and quiet, and then once you get up the ranks and decide to become a Cobra, they force you to stay quiet. I guess it's good for secret-keeping and stealth, but when you have the option to get out of the military at eighteen, it seems like a completely useless procedure because it'll take years to get your normal voice back. People who had the money to employ speech therapists got it back a lot faster, but most of us couldn't afford it."_

"_I guess I just have to wait then. Jeez, all this thinking makes me tired. My shoulder still hurts like a bitch."_

Jason yawned and closed his eyes, drifting off to take a nap. When he woke up again, it was lightly raining. It was still light out, which meant it was sometime in the afternoon. Jason had no watch to tell, and the sun was hidden behind clouds. He shivered and sneezed, hoping the rain would stop soon. His stomach growled, and the hunger pangs were almost more than he could bear.

Apparently the rain had other plans, because it started to come down harder. Jason was shivering constantly by this point, and felt miserable in the cold. He doubted anyone would come by and give him a rain jacket or something to keep him warm so hypothermia wouldn't set in. At least he could get water by letting it drip from his nose into his mouth. The dark-haired boy didn't know how much time had passed, but he had gone from shivering to feeling numb all over. He couldn't think straight, and didn't have the energy to pick his head up when he felt someone drape warm fabric around his shoulders. Jason heard the crinkle of a rain jacket and felt it weigh down on the blanket as well. A hood blocked part of his vision, and he heard footsteps receding. Lifting his head a little, he swore he saw a flash of long, black hair as the person jogged through the alley and around the corner.

The blanket helped with the numbness in his body, but Jason felt the cold drag him deeper and deeper into unconsciousness. He didn't bother trying to fight it, and let his mind slip beneath the wave of darkness that washed over him.


	11. A Clue

On the morning of Jason's fifth day missing, Ellie had sunk so deep into despair that Joel couldn't stand having her depressing presence in the house anymore. The red-haired girl had stopped talking, the dark circles under her eyes told Joel she didn't sleep well, and now she had started eating less. He decided that she needed to get out for a while, and he trusted that she was smart enough not to go running off by herself again. Ellie knew the dangers of straying too far from the town, or at least the old man hoped she did.

"Why don't you go fishing; get your mind off things, huh?" Joel suggested as Ellie sat across from him, poking her scrambled eggs with a fork. The young girl shrugged, not meeting his eyes. She knew Joel hated seeing the hollow, lifeless look in them, so she never met his eyes when he talked with her.

"Well, you're going fishing whether you want to or not. You need to get outside instead of spending all your time cooped up here or in that goddamn barn. Finish your breakfast, take that fishing rod, and go catch us some dinner." Joel said sternly, and Ellie sighed in response. All she ever did was sigh these days. She managed to eat half her eggs before pushing herself away from the table and putting on her boots.

Ellie didn't say anything as she took the cooler, grabbed the fishing rod, and headed outside. It was truly a beautiful day today; the sky was an unbroken blue dome above her head, the sun enveloped her in its warmth, and everyone seemed to be in a good mood today. Everyone except for her.

The redhead briefly informed Tommy of where she was going, and then the sentries opened the gate for her. She hiked to the fishing spot where Joel had taken her, the sights and sounds of the forest easing her anxiety along the way. The forest always had a way of making people feel peaceful. Once at her destination, Ellie filled the small cooler with water and cast her line out into the river. No one else was at this spot yet, which was good. She wouldn't have to talk to anyone that way.

After about an hour of casting and recasting her line, Ellie finally got a bite. She reeled in a small trout, and being better than nothing, she tossed the squirming fish into the cooler. She threw her line out again, and waited. The young girl realized Joel had been right about getting outside. She felt slightly better, and although she wasn't anywhere close to happy, she wasn't wallowing in sorrow either. Ellie was content for the moment, listening to the river flow and feeling the sun on her face.

It was noon by the time Ellie decided she should pack up and leave. She had caught another three small trout in the span of three hours, and her stomach had started complaining it didn't have enough food in it. A couple of people came and went during that three-hour span, but never caught anything. The red-haired girl hooked her lure on her rod, and secured the lid on the cooler.

Ellie stopped in her tracks as she heard an out-of-place noise among the sounds of the forest. It sounded like a horse's far-off whinny, but she convinced herself it was just her mind playing tricks on her. _"There I go again, hearing shit that isn't there…First I think the wind is Jason whistling, and now I swear I hear a horse, even though nobody took one out this morning." _Her heart fluttered for a moment as she thought it could be Jason coming back on Pixie, but that hope quickly died. She had been teasing herself like that for days, and it only made her feel worse.

The young girl heard the sound again, and whipped around to search for the source of the noise. Her mind never tripped up twice in a row. Ellie scanned the trees around her for movement, but there was only the whispering breeze rustling the branches above her. She turned to the river, squinting against the sun's glare on the water. Her eyes caught movement behind the bushes on the other side, and she heard another whinny. The river was too wide and Ellie had no idea how deep it was, so she didn't dare cross to check it out. However, her mind immediately reached one conclusion: Pixie.

Ellie sprinted back to the town, making it in less than 15 minutes. The gate was opened for her and she ran up to her house, ignoring any questions from Maria as she passed by. Ellie burst the door open, gasping for air as Joel gave her an alarmed look.

"What's happened, Ellie? Are bandits coming?" The older man asked, already crossing the room to reach his rifle.

The redhead shook her head, still trying to catch her breath. After a minute, her breathing became calm enough so she could speak. "I saw Pixie. We have to…get her back." She said between pauses for air. Ellie deposited her cooler and fishing rod by the door and threw herself onto the couch. Her legs were burning from so much exertion.

"Pixie…?" Joel wracked his brain, trying to remember who that was. He vaguely remembered Ellie mention something about a horse with that name. "Is that Jason's horse? Was he with her?" He questioned, pulling up a chair beside the couch.

"No…no, he wasn't. But it's a sign, Dad. Jason's alive. I know he is." Ellie smiled for the first time in days, her eyes lighting up.

Joel placed a hand on his daughter's shoulder, creasing his brow. "Ellie…just because you saw his horse doesn't mean the boy himself is alright. Pixie could have escaped and been wandering the forest for days. I hate to say it, but we have no proof that Jason himself is alive."

Ellie got that defiant look in her eyes that meant she wasn't going to change her mind. "I know, but…it's the first lead we've gotten since Jason went missing. I'm going to bring back that horse." She said stubbornly, getting up to walk out the door again.

The older man stopped her. "I'm coming with you, but you have to eat your lunch first. Finish the other half of your eggs, they're in the fridge. I got some ham, too." Joel demanded, earning a frustrated groan from Ellie. She reluctantly obeyed him and shoved the remainder of her breakfast in her mouth, and then cut a piece of ham for herself. When she was done, they both headed out the door.

Ellie brought out one of the Paint horses from the paddock, and quickly groomed the horse. Shane brought the horse's tack over and within minutes the horse was ready to go. Joel realized that there was a problem with this whole excursion: there wasn't a bridge to get across the river. He voiced this problem to Ellie as they mounted the horse and set off for the gate.

Fortunately, the pair ran into Tommy at the exit of the town. "Tommy, is there a way to get across the river around here? We're going horse-hunting. Ellie saw Pixie." Joel informed his little brother as he opened the gate for them.

Tommy scratched his head, thinking. "Yeah, there are tons of shallow places you can cross. That fishing spot I showed you is a little deep, but the horse should be able to get across without too much trouble. I wouldn't go wading in on foot, though. Good luck, you two." He patted the horse's hindquarters and Joel thanked him. Ellie urged the horse into a canter, heading south along the trail. Within ten minutes they reached the fishing spot, and the horse eagerly waded in. It splashed the shallow water with its foreleg, sending up sparkling droplets to its riders.

The redhead giggled and urged the horse on, wading deeper until the water reached the horse's knees. Ellie and Joel remained dry, and emerged on the other side. The horse shook the excess water from its body, almost sending Joel back into the water. Ellie scanned the darker forest for Pixie, but she didn't see anything. The only sounds that reached her ears were birds and the odd cicada.

"I swore she was here, but I don't see her…" The young girl said with a hint of disappointment in her tone. She dismounted and searched for any clues. Beyond the rocks, the forest floor was dank and covered in soil. Moss grew on and around trees, making the ground spongy to walk on. Joel also dismounted and looked closely at the ground for tracks. He noticed a disturbed patch of ground where the dirt was dug up. The lower branches of trees around the small area were also snapped.

"Come here, Ellie. I think I found something." Joel showed the redhead the patch, and she noticed hoof-shaped tracks leading deeper into the forest.

"Hoof-prints lead away from here, look." Ellie observed, "Pixie must have gotten stuck and then wandered further into the forest. Let's go." She mounted the Paint horse again, and Joel copied her. They walked into the woods, following the tracks. Along with hoof-prints, Ellie was also looking for human footprints, but found none. Jason wasn't with his horse. Before long, they heard the thrashing of a large animal and shrill whinnies. Ellie and Joel's horse whinnied back, pricking its ears. It missed its friend.

In the semi-darkness of the forest, Ellie could make out a horse trapped in a stand of low, over-hanging trees. The black and white Paint still had a saddle on, but its reins were caught in the low branches of one of the trees. Ellie dismounted and slowly approached the struggling filly, talking soothingly to her.

"Hey, Pixie. I'm going to get you out, okay? Don't be scared…" The redhead crooned, reaching out to place a hand on the horse's shoulder. Pixie shuddered and eyed her warily, but remained still. Ellie noticed the horse had numerous small scratches from branches, and made note to wash her afterwards. Some cuts had dried blood on them, and there were other places where there weren't any cuts, but there were still splotches of dried blood. It made Ellie's stomach squirm to think of where those had come from. Dozens of brambles were embedded in the horse's mane and tail. The saddle and bridle were in one piece, but the saddle pad was torn in a few places.

Ellie loosened the reins that were caught around a tree branch, and slowly led the horse out. Pixie seemed relieved that someone was finally helping her, and followed the young girl. Ellie got back on her own horse and Joel took the reins while she held on to Pixie's. The horse was reluctant to go into the water, but once she saw that her friend tolerated it, she hesitantly stepped in. Ellie gave the horse encouragement every step of the way across the river, and soon they were back on the other side. They rode all the way back to town without so much as Pixie shying at flock of birds bursting through the canopy.

Joel dismounted once they got to the house, and the young girl took the horses to the barn. Shane was relieved that Pixie had come back, but became saddened again as Ellie told him she found no trace of his son. She clipped both horses to the cross-ties on the wall and Shane began working on untacking Pixie while she did the same with her horse. Ellie put the chestnut and white Paint in a stall for the time-being, and went to inspect Pixie for any other injuries.

Shane checked the horse's legs, but didn't find anything out of the ordinary. Her hooves were also sound, and it only appeared that her injuries were the minor scratches scattered on her body. Ellie discovered a particularly large splatter of dried blood on the horse's left shoulder, but there was no cut to go along with it. It made her stomach sink. She patted the horse's neck, and felt more dried blood under the filly's mane. Ellie lifted the curtain of hair and brambles to find more spots of deep red, but again there was no cut.

Ellie looked closer at the splotches, noticing that they were smeared and flaking off like the rest, but they appeared different. She thought it was her eyes playing tricks on her, but one of the spots looked like a capital "e". The rest was too faded and smeared to make out. Was it just a mere coincidence?

"Shane, look at this. Does this spot here look like an "E" to you?" The redhead queried, and the balding man came over to take a closer look.

"Actually, it kind of does. Weird pattern, huh? I'll get the comb so we can take all these brambles out of this pretty girl's hair." Shane lumbered off to the tack room to search the buckets of grooming tools. He came back a minute later with a metal comb.

"It's not weird…it means something. I bet Jason wrote this…but what does it mean? I think there was more to this, but it got ruined." Ellie determined, feeling her hopes rise. Shane shrugged, picking brambles out of Pixie's tail.

"You think my son wrote a message in his own blood? He must have been desperate…It could mean anything, though. A town that starts with E, a river, a region…I don't know. It's something, or it could be nothing. That blood is days old…who knows what could have happened to him by now?" The old man sighed, beginning to comb through the horse's tail.

Ellie wracked her brain for an answer. This was the key to finding Jason, she could feel it. If only she knew what it meant…The redhead gently traced the lopsided letter, and squinted at the rest of the splotches, but they were indeed indecipherable. It looked like the end of a word or sentence, though. "What about the direction? East?" She wondered aloud, earning another shrug from Shane.

"Could be East, too. For now, all we can do it stare at a map and pick out anything with an 'E'. It's not much headway, but at least it's something. Help me pick out the brambles in Pixie's mane, huh? Then we can wash her." The balding man suggested, combing out the last knot in the filly's tail. Ellie nodded and nimbly plucked out all of the little burrs, letting them pile up at her feet. The pair worked in silence, Ellie picking out the brambles and Shane combing Pixie's mane.

Since she had the chance, the redhead asked something that had been on her mind. "Shane, what was Jason's life like in Denver? I know he told me he was in the military, but he didn't get too specific. Why did he become a Cobra?" Ellie bit her lip as the old man's gaze became distant.

"Why does anyone join the military in a Quarantine Zone? It's mandatory, you get ration cards for your service; you know the story. Even I was a soldier for a time, when I was younger. I left when I was eighteen, like anyone else who had the choice. In Denver, it's a little different. Kids get enlisted at fourteen for stealth operations, planting mines and whatnot. The parents, if there are any, are reassured their children will be safe. All the kids thought it was fun, getting guns and going outside the Zone. They never told the kids to shoot anyone, besides Infected. Jason was a natural with the standard-issue pistols they gave him. Then when they hit sixteen…it all changes…" Shane trailed off, a pained look crossing his face.

"What happens? Do they become Cobras?" The young girl prodded. She needed to know the whole truth.

The old man sighed, and shook his head. "No, not all of them. Only the best are recommended, and Jason was at the top of the class. That's when they tell you to shoot prisoners, innocents, and start with the drugs to numb it all down. What they don't tell you is that you'll lose your voice if you accept the offer to become a Cobra. Even Jason didn't know. One day he told us 'good morning', and in the evening he came back with stitches in his throat. There wasn't anything we could do, angry as we were. My boy was depressed for a few months, but he still went to work."

Ellie shuddered at the thought. "It sounds worse than in Boston…Do Cobras get their voices back?" She queried, curious. Vocal cords healed, didn't they?

"Eventually, after a couple of years. You could talk normally, but you'd never get your original voice back. It just sounds all raspy and you can't speak louder than a whisper. People who had the money to get therapy got their original voices back, the lucky bastards. I doubt if Jason ever will, but he's getting there. Sometimes he whispers stuff, but you can barely hear it. He just prefers to use sign language because of his mother." Shane explained, and then fetched a lead rope. He unclipped Pixie and he and Ellie led the horse out to the pasture, where she was reunited with the bay and third Paint horse.

After a few minutes of watching the horses frolic and munch on hay, Ellie wondered aloud, "You mentioned drugs…was Jason a drug addict? I saw a lot of soldiers smoking joints in Boston, too. I guess it's not uncommon."

After a brief pause, the balding man responded reluctantly, "Marijuana was a popular drug of choice for soldiers, especially for the teenagers. It numbed all the emotional pain of killing down, and my son was unfortunately no stranger to smoking a joint. That's why he kept going back every day, I suppose. During those six months as a Cobra, he changed. He was distant, cold, and sometimes aggressive. It felt like we failed as parents, Julie and I, because there was nothing we could do to help him. The drugs kept him going back, and he wasn't able to get out of the military for another two years. It was a vicious cycle."

"Then how did you get out of Denver? Is Jason off pot now?" The redhead asked. Hearing about Jason's past disturbed her somewhat, but he didn't sound much different than your average ex-soldier. It answered a lot of questions, such as why he didn't make many friends and why his father complained about him pushing Pixie too hard sometimes. It was a remnant of his once cold, hostile personality of past months. Couple that with withdrawal symptoms, and you have the perfect anti-social teenager.

Shane nodded, getting a halter for the last horse that hadn't been turned out yet. Ellie put the horse in the larger paddock with Beauty, who was grazing at the other end. Black cows milled about wherever there was room, lowing to each other and eating grass.

"He's gotten a lot better ever since we arrived here. He's definitely taken a liking to you, that's for sure. I don't think I've seen him so happy until you came along. As for how we got out of Denver, well it wasn't easy. The food and water shortages were so frequent that many got fed up and tried to leave. Of course, the military wouldn't let them and many people got shot. However, that cunning boy of mine found a way out through the sewage system, when he was down there doing patrols. So, we packed up and left. It was sheer luck that we ended up here last year." The old man recounted, giving a light chuckle.

"That's one hell of a journey, from Colorado to Wyoming. Thanks for telling me all this, Shane…it helps a lot." Ellie said, heading for the barn exit. "I'll work on that clue and get some maps out." With that she bid the old man goodbye and went to go find Tommy.


	12. Friends in Dark Places

Jason was vaguely aware of the sound of footsteps becoming louder, but he was too exhausted to care. It was mid-afternoon, judging by the direction of the sun's warmth on his skin. He must have looked pathetic to whoever was coming towards him. Raspy, ragged breathes irritated his parched throat. His lips were dried and cracked from lack of water, and the chains had chafed his skin raw. He felt much worse inside than he did outside, however. The hunger pangs were unbearable, his head pounded from dehydration and exposure to too much rain and sun, and it felt like his insides were boiling. Jason briefly wondered if this was what Infected felt like, and then heard the clatter of chains behind him. The sandy ground rose up to greet his face.

"Times up, kid. I'll get your welcoming committee." A gruff voice said from above the dark-haired boy. Jason lay on the ground, unresponsive. He didn't have the energy to do anything but stay still.

"_Has it really been three days? That makes it what…five days now?" _The teenager thought sluggishly, trying to remember how much time had passed. His thoughts were hazy, and it hurt to think. It felt like a lifetime ago that he had first been chained to that post by Izzy.

Jason was enveloped in silence for a while, the light breeze ruffling his greasy hair. He became gradually more aware of his surroundings from his new vantage point. His vision became slightly more focused, but it was still blurry. Men emerged from the alley into the clearing, about eight in all. Jason noticed one of them carried a long, leather whip. It made his fiery blood run cold, looking at the brutal thing. A hand grasped the thick handle at one end, and the other was thin, splitting in two. The man cracked the whip, producing a sharp snap. If Jason could whimper in fear, he would have. Instead he flinched at the sound.

The eight men arranged themselves in a circle, with eager looks on their faces. Flogging was apparently an entertaining spectacle for these people. The dark-haired boy felt someone grab his raw wrists, but then the person dropped them as a voice rang out from the alleyway.

"Aww, you guys are having a party and you didn't invite me? For shame…I like to see fresh meat tenderized!" A girl's voice complained sarcastically, earning a few chuckles from the men. Jason couldn't see who it was since he was facing the opposite way, but the voice sounded familiar. He thought it was Isabelle, but the girl's voice sounded a bit lower. Still, he vaguely recognized the tone.

"There ain't nothing to see here for girls, Riley. We wouldn't want to scar your pretty eyes, now." Dale warned in a serious tone. Jason heard Riley scoff.

"_Riley…? I know that name…" _The boy thought, trying to match the name to a face. He felt like the memory was right there, just under the murky surface that was his uncooperative thought process. He couldn't grasp it.

"Maybe you might know him? He's from Denver, too. The kid's a Cobra, do you recognize him?" An unknown man's voice reached Jason's ears.

"I don't know any fucking Cobras, Zack. Nobody did, the goddamn military kept them segregated." Riley snapped. The dark-haired boy heard footsteps coming closer, and felt fingers wrap around his left forearm, gently pulling it away from him. He felt the girl lightly trace his tattoo.

"Squad No. 25…Cobras? No fucking way…" The girl muttered, turning Jason over so he was lying on his back. Her eyes widened in shock. "No _fucking _way! Jason!? How the hell…oh my God, I can't believe this." Riley sat back, releasing Jason's arm. She held her head in her hands, letting out a long breath.

Mentally drained as he was, Jason was also surprised. He finally remembered who this girl was. They had been in the same squadron together, they were best friends, and the last time he had seen her was…Jason couldn't recall. He merely blinked at her, trying to keep his vision focused on her face. Riley's shoulder-length hair was blonde. He remembered her eyes were blue, and they always looked cold and critical. Her sarcastic attitude hadn't changed at all.

Jason felt a hand cup his face, and it guided his head so he was looking directly into Riley's eyes. "I haven't seen you since your 16th birthday a year and a half ago…you must be 17 now, huh?" She estimated, and lifted his back up so that he sat against the post. Riley removed her canteen from her belt and Jason gratefully drank every last drop of water from it. The boy kept forgetting how long he had really been in Jackson County, and had also stopped counting since there was no point. The blonde eyed the scar on his neck.

Riley clipped the canteen back on her belt. "You were always the better shot, weren't you? Never stopped bragging about it…but now you can't talk. Ironic, isn't it?" There was a mixture of sadness and satisfaction in her voice. Jason suddenly fell sideways as pain exploded from his jaw. "I wanted to be a Cobra, but they picked you instead, just like for everything else!" The girl shouted, retracting her fist. Riley pulled Jason back up again before he could recover. She slugged him across the face again, sending him to the ground. "You left me behind when Denver went down, and you have the balls to show your face to me again? You fucking piece of shit!" For every word in the last phrase, Jason was kicked hard in the stomach by the enraged girl. Now he also remembered her explosive temper.

Jason curled up into a ball, clutching his stomach. Riley huffed and turned to Dale, who held the whip. "Do with him what you will. Bring him to me after; I'm not done with him yet." With that she spun on her heel and marched out of the clearing. The dark-haired boy managed a smirk as a man bound his wrists to the post with the chains. Riley hadn't changed a bit.

His bittersweet moment with his old friend was quickly forgotten as Jason heard the crack of the whip. A millisecond later, white-hot pain seared his weakened body. He couldn't scream in agony, and the men around him jeered and laughed as Dale opened a second gash on the boy's back. Jason felt hot blood trickling down his sides, and the part that made him most afraid was that he couldn't see when the next slash was coming. Every time he heard the whip crack he flinched, a new wave of fear washing over his body. Jason's head was tucked under his arm and he was on his knees. The boy opened his mouth in another silent scream as a third gash sliced opened on his back. He writhed in pain and wanted more than anything for it to end, but he knew he had another five to go. Jason gritted his teeth as the fourth and fifth slashes tore across his already wounded back, and soundlessly screamed when the sixth one struck his lower back. The last two made his knees give out, and his vision faded from darkness to light as someone undid the chains.

The puddle of blood underneath Jason grew steadily larger, and then he felt someone drag him away from the stockade. He didn't stay awake long enough to see where he was going, and fell unconscious from his own agony.

When the dark-haired boy woke up again, he was lying on his front on one of the infirmary beds. His back throbbed in pain, matching the rhythm of his heart. His insides didn't feel hot anymore, and neither did his head pound. When Jason's vision cleared, he saw two girls sitting on the bed next to him, playing cards. A few candles were lit around the room; some were on the floor, others were on nightstands, and a small fire was burning from wooden debris in the middle of the living room. The tiny flames gave the room a soft glow, and whatever the light couldn't reach was cloaked in shadows.

Jason recognized the two girls as Izzy and Riley, who were chatting quietly amongst themselves. They were unaware that their patient had woken up, for the moment. In the glow of the firelight, the boy was able to look properly at his former comrade in arms. Her hair wasn't in a tight, regulation bun anymore. It flowed freely around her face, tucked behind her ears. The flames made it appear a rich shade of gold. Her blue eyes were kind and gentle in contrast to cold and harsh. Riley appeared like a normal teenager, not the tough as nails, commanding girl he once knew in the military. Jason thought he saw a light blush on her cheeks as he heard Izzy mention his name in a question.

The dark-haired boy tried to prop himself up onto his elbow, but let out a light gasp as his back erupted into more intense pain. Riley and Izzy glanced up from their card game. Jason immediately resumed his previous position as the pair came over.

"Shit, I thought you were never going to wake up. You were out for hours. Your fever broke a couple of hours ago, so you should be fine." Riley commented as she checked the bandages on her friend's back. Izzy stood off to the side, ready with a bowl of water. She watched the girl fuss over the boy, and briefly wondered what had really happened between them back in Denver.

As Riley changed the bandages on Jason's back, she motioned over to the black-haired girl who started dabbing the boy's wounds. Jason hissed as the liquid stung, earning a condescending huff from the blonde.

"Big baby…If you tense up it'll be worse. Relax, will you?" Riley chided, and the dark-haired boy obliged as best as he could. "Dale really did a number on you, didn't he? Luckily the gashes aren't too deep, but they'll leave scars. They hurt like a bitch though, huh?" She chuckled, throwing the soiled gauze into the small bonfire. Jason tried to remain expressionless, but his answer was obvious due to his frequent winces.

Once his bandages were replaced, Riley pulled up a chair next to Jason. The usually bold, chatty Isabelle didn't say a word in the presence of the older girl, instead busying herself with tending the fire while the pair talked. Even though she was fifteen, she still felt like a small child compared to Riley, who was Jason's age. She held deep respect for the blonde, but still eavesdropped on their conversation from her place at the fire. It wasn't difficult as Riley wasn't exactly trying to be quiet.

"About earlier today…God, I don't even know where to begin. When I recognized you, I freaked out. I thought you were dead, and I bet you thought I was, too. What I said was true, though. I was jealous they made you a Cobra, and not me. I thought something like that had happened when you didn't come to work after your birthday, or that you had just gotten drunk and beaten to death. You tend to attract trouble, don't you?" Riley smirked, ruffling Jason's hair.

The corner of Jason's mouth twitched upwards. He remembered that almost every time they had gone on a mission outside of the Quarantine Zone, it was like the Infected knew where to find him and came after him. They had some close calls with getting bitten, but it never happened. He always had Riley's back, and she had his. They trusted their lives to each other during missions, and were almost inseparable. Jason didn't have to think about all the times people tried to jump him on his way to and from work, and during patrols inside the QZ, to know that he was a magnet for danger. People hated the military, no matter how old the soldiers were.

"I heard some guys talking about the settlement you came from. Two days away, holy shit. We're really stretching it to get our numbers up. Not that you helped anything, of course. It's just like you to make a dramatic escape like that instead of picking your way out step by step. I guess that's your biggest flaw, huh? You always want to make a show, to impress people. It makes you a real idiot sometimes, Jay." The blonde sighed in mock exasperation, "It was a wonder how you survived without me when you got out. Ugh, it's a shame you can't talk…we have a lot to catch up on." Her sarcasm faded away to reveal a glimpse of longing behind her guarded eyes. Longing for what, Jason had no idea.

The dark-haired boy glanced around, searching his surroundings for something to write on. He spotted a sheet of crumpled paper and a pen on the nightstand beside him, and inclined his head towards it. It took Riley a few seconds to discern what he was getting at, and then threw a glance at the nightstand. She handed him the paper and pen, along with a flat, relatively intact piece of wood to write on.

Jason scribbled something on the sheet, and spun it around so she could see it. "How did you get here?" Riley read, squinting to read the boy's scrawl in the dim light of the candles. The blonde thought about that question for a moment. "I escaped through the sewer system with a few from our squad and number 14, as well. That was a couple of weeks after you'd disappeared. We walked and some people gave us rides. It took us about two months to get here, and by then it was only me, Isabelle, Ian, and Jerry. Izzy was from Squad No. 14, so I guess you didn't know her. You killed Ian and Jerry, so it's just me and Izzy now. I can't believe you stayed in that shithole…when did you actually leave?" She asked, passing the paper back to him.

The dark-haired boy wrote down, "Six months after birthday, spent one year in settlement." He handed the paper to Riley, who gave a low whistle. "You really stuck it out…Ran out of pot, did they?" She snickered, earning an eye roll from her friend. "Are your parents still alive?" The blonde queried warily, gauging Jason's expression. He nodded, and she let out a relieved sigh. "Good, glad to hear it. You don't how fucking lucky you are to have both parents until you've lost them. You still picking off bandits and Infected with a sniper rifle over there?"

Jason shook his head, and scribbled on his paper, "I'm a horse guy now." He passed the sheet to Riley, and she snorted, "Seriously? Horses? No wonder you were able to run down so many men…Remember how we used to sit up in the sniper's nest all day, up on one of the towers on the wall? Remember the contests we would have to see how many Infected we could kill in one minute? I think my record was ten, but yours was 20, or something. You used to call me Rye Bread because I was a slow runner and you thought I was always going to be food for the Infected. I called you Blue Jay because you held your breath with that sniper rifle for so long, your face turned blue. I miss those days…minus the rampant starvation, drought, riots, and Firefly bombings, it wasn't too bad. We had good times…and then you had to go and fucking disappear, leaving me to wonder if you were even alive…" She said the last sentence quietly, and the dark-haired boy reached a hand out to squeeze hers reassuringly.

Riley glanced down at their hands, and quickly pulled hers away. She glanced over at Izzy, and Jason saw the slight blush reappear on the blonde's cheeks. Riley composed herself in the blink of an eye, but Jason didn't miss the hitch in her breath at his touch. "Hey, do you remember when we were fifteen, how we used to mess with the higher-up's food? My favourite was the shredded habanero peppers in Major Rowland's soup. His mouth got burned so much, he couldn't talk for two whole days! It was a golden age for all of us." A laugh bubbled up at the memory, and Jason snickered quietly while Riley laughed outright. When she had calmed down, she was still giggling, "God, they hated us so much back then. They couldn't discharge us because we were under contracts, but they couldn't wait for us to turn 18 and get out!"

The dark-haired boy had to stop laughing because his cuts were starting to hurt again. He took the piece of paper and scrawled, "Remember stargazing?" Riley read the question and nodded, "Yeah, we used to sleep on the roof of your apartment building in the summer, because we stayed up so long watching the stars. I knew all of the constellations, and you had that book on the stories behind each one. Then the night before you disappeared, it was my birthday. You know we had our birthdays right after each other, right? You asked me what I wanted, and I said…Shit, it sounds so stupid now." The girl scoffed, leaning back in her chair. Jason furrowed his brow, wondering why she had stopped all of a sudden. It didn't seem stupid to him.

Jason wrote down what his friend was too embarrassed to say, probably because Isabelle was in the room. "You said to me, and I quote, 'I want you to promise me that we won't leave each other. The best birthday present I can get is one I already have.' End quote." He shoved the paper towards Riley, who picked it up and read it.

"That was the night you kissed me…and then you broke the fucking promise two days later. Do you even know what you put me through? Do you know how I suffered, not knowing where you were or what happened to you? Your parents couldn't say anything, they were sworn to secrecy! The Commanders didn't say shit, and nobody knew! I tried scouring the city, but-" Riley's rant got cut off as Jason nimbly sat up despite his injuries, and kissed her. The girl was too shocked to pull away, and the dark-haired boy broke away after a few seconds. He gingerly sat himself back down, smirking. Didn't that always work to shut girls up? It had worked for Ellie and her crying…

Riley remained speechless for a few moments, trying to collect her thoughts. She slapped him forcefully across the face, making him grit his teeth in pain. The blonde stood up and said to Izzy, "Put the fire out and blow the candles out, too. I think we've stayed long enough. Let's get some shut-eye, okay?" The raven-haired girl nodded and stomped the fire out. She gathered up the cards, blew out half the candles, and let Riley do the other half. Riley saved the last one by Jason's nightstand so she could talk to him.

"I'm still mad at you, Blue Jay." The blonde spat unconvincingly, trying to look furious with him. Jason smirked again and waved her off. Riley blew the candle out and made her way outside using the light of the moon. The boy felt a sense of guilt come over him as soon as she left. He had been reunited with his best friend, whom he knew had feelings for him for quite some time, and then there was Ellie. Jason sighed, lying down and closing his eyes. What was a boy to do?


	13. Key to Freedom

**A/N: Hey all, sorry for the long wait. Life and writer's block got in the way, but mostly life. I discovered the Mortal Instruments series and I was hooked, and I strongly recommend that you read the books.**

**Anyway, that wasn't what I wanted to tell you fantastic people. What I wanted to ask was if any of you would like to see a prequel to this story, which would be about the relationship between Jason and Riley, whom you met last chapter. Please let me know in a comment, I would love to hear your opinions. That is all. Enjoy the chapter!**

When Ellie woke up from her slumber the next morning, she instantly regretted it. The sunlight streaming through her window stung her eyes, and she flung a hand up to shield them from the harsh light. She felt drained and exhausted, but that was to be expected. She _did _stay up until almost dawn poring over the maps that Tommy had given her. Even though Ellie hadn't had much of a clue as to the whereabouts of Jason, the hint she did find made her determined to scour every inch of the map until she fell asleep at the kitchen table, and Joel had carried her limp, overtired body to bed.

Of course, the red-haired girl wasn't much better off than when Jason had first disappeared. The map yielded nothing in its criss-crossing lines of roads. However, that didn't stop her from marking any areas that ended or started with an "E". The map ended up looking like it had come down with a case of chicken pox because of the red pen she had used. Tommy assured her that he didn't care what she did with the map. He had tons lying around. He also happened to have a map with all of the known bandit outposts marked on it, and Ellie compared both to record which bandit hideouts Jason was most likely taken to. Unfortunately for her, there were more possibilities than she had first thought. There were dozens, and it would take forever to search them all. Weeks, probably months would be needed just to search the bandit settlements within a two or three-day radius of Jackson County. By then Jason would more than likely be dead.

_What makes you so sure he's not dead now? He could have been thrown to the Infected hordes already, and become one of them. He could have- _Ellie willed the nagging voice in the back of her head to shut up. She couldn't afford to think like that. The redhead groaned and reluctantly got out of bed. The wooden floor boards squeaked under her feet as she stood up, and she padded into the kitchen to see Joel bent over the stove cooking something. The aroma of eggs wafted into Ellie's nose, making her mouth water.

Joel looked up to see his adopted daughter shuffle into the kitchen. "Morning, Ellie. I'm surprised you're up before noon, considering the all-nighter you pulled last night. Hungry?" He asked, piling the eggs on two separate plates on the kitchen table. The maps had been folded up and thrown carelessly on the couch.

Ellie took a seat at the table, eagerly picking up her fork in reply. She ravenously ate her eggs as soon as Joel put them on her plate. After a few bites she said, "I've been awake for 24 hours before. It's nothing new."

The older man regarded her for a moment as he sat down. He shook his head muttering, "I bet it's not." In a louder voice he queried, "Did you find out anything useful? That clue you told me about didn't seem particularly noteworthy." His voice was gruff and curt, as usual.

The redhead shrugged. "I marked out possible bandit outposts we could check out. It would take a while, but-" She was cut off by Joel as he raised a hand to stop her.

"What do you mean by _'we'_? _We _are not going anywhere. _We _are going to let the search parties do their work, and _we _aren't going to go on a wild goose chase looking for a boy that probably isn't even alive." The older man stated, matching Ellie's glare with one of his own. This search for Jason had become something of an obsession for the young girl, and he wasn't going to let her kill herself pursuing it. Ellie knew very well what was beyond those gates, and he was determined not to let her fall prey to it.

Ellie dropped her fork down with a clang on her plate, egg still speared on the prongs. "What have the search parties done, Joel? They've came up with nothing. _Nothing_." She enunciated the word slowly, deliberately drawing out the word to convey the meaning behind it. "It's been almost a week, and you expect me to sit here and wait until he shows up, safe and sound? That clue was the first sign that Jason was alive, and you know he is just as much as I do!" Her voice rose without her meaning to, and she was on her feet, gripping the edge of the table so hard her knuckles turned white. She leered at Joel, who was clearly trying to keep his cool.

The older man's jaw was clenched and a vein popped in his neck, a sure sign there was anger building in him. The tension was almost palpable in the deathly silence that followed Ellie's outburst, like an overstretched rubber band about to snap. Joel put his fork down and laced his fingers together as he spoke in a calm voice unbefitting to the tense set of his shoulders and neck. "He may be alive, he may not be. Now I'm not saying that he isn't, but looking at the length of time that Jason's been gone, it's getting hard to hope that he somehow survived."

The red-haired girl sat back down with an audible thump. "If we could get a search party to go to the areas I've marked down, we may stand a chance of finding him. I'm not giving up on him." She responded stubbornly, picking up her fork again and shoving eggs into her mouth.

Joel sighed through his nose. He hated when Ellie decided to be more stubborn than a mule and donkey put together. "It's been _six days, _Ellie. I admire your faith in this boy, but you have to get your head out of the goddamn clouds and back to reality. Jason's gone, and there's nothing you nor I, nor anyone else here, can do about it." He said with finality, and bore Ellie's resulting stare of resentment with only a shred of guilt. The anger in her eyes made them glint, like a venomous snake about to strike.

"You don't understand, Joel. Jason's a soldier. He's been through worse shit than getting kidnapped while herding cattle. He was _trained _to survive situations like this. You're not being fair." Ellie's voice was shaking from barely contained fury. How could he say something like that? After all the times he had stood by her, he chose now to pull the rug out from under her feet?

The older man's jaw worked as he took deep breaths to prevent himself from shouting. "Fair? Life _isn't _fair, Ellie. You should know that by now. Why the hell are you so damned set on finding this boy? Can you tell me that, because obviously I don't get it?" He leaned back in his chair, crossing his arms. They were as tense as the rest of him.

The young girl remained silent for a moment, and shifted her gaze downward. Her previous anger seemed to drain out of her, leaving her vulnerable to Joel's expectant stare. "I feel like…Jason's the one person I can actually prevent from dying. Everyone else…I couldn't do anything to save them, but for Jason I can. It's the only way to keep the pain of losing another person I care about from tearing me apart, Joel. I've lost too many people and I can't lose another one." She lifted her eyes to meet her surrogate father's, and was relieved to see that he wasn't glaring at her anymore. His body had relaxed, but the tough exterior was still there. His eyes held sympathy behind their guarded look.

"Jason's kidnapping wasn't your fault, Ellie. None of those other deaths were, either. You know what's out there, and I'm not letting you fall victim to it. We're finally safe here, and you want to put yourself in danger all over again? You want to risk your life for a boy you met two weeks ago? Think about it, Ellie." Joel's tone was still harsh, but there was a note of gentleness in it. He was frowning at her, but at least he wasn't angry like he was before. The older man tried to look at the situation from Ellie's point of view, and he gradually began to understand how important this was to her, because he had been in the same situation himself. He was there when those same friends died, too.

Ellie fell silent, staring down at her plate. Joel did have a point…In reality she barely knew Jason, but that didn't mean that she didn't feel anything for him. He was another human being, and his life meant something, whether Joel liked him or not. "I want to look for him, even if it's to make sure he's really dead. If worse comes to worst, at least I'll have closure and Jason's parents will, too." She looked Joel in the eye, and he saw the unwavering determination in her emerald eyes. She had made up her mind and wasn't going to change it.

"Fine, but don't come crying to me if you find his dead body behind a bush somewhere. I'm going with you. Pack up and let's go. I giving us three days, and that's it." The older man said with finality as he picked up their plates. Ellie nodded and went to her room, stuffing a pair of jeans, a few shirts, her water bottle, socks, and underwear in her backpack. She heard Joel shuffling around in the room next door, and knew he was packing, too. Once they were both ready, the pair headed outside to the barn.

* * *

Jason woke up to the noonday sun shining through the glassless windows, illuminating the cracks in the floor and the true dinginess of the house he was in. He winced as he moved into a more comfortable position. Jason felt like his back had been scraped down a cheese grater, but at least he was a little bit more mobile now. No one else seemed to be in the house, as far as he could tell.

The dark-haired boy gingerly sat up, trying to ignore the pain of his cuts as they stretched and contracted. He ran a hand through his greasy hair and frowned. _"I really need a shower…I doubt they have plumbing here, though." _He thought as the dizziness of movement passed. Jason glanced over to the other bed and saw a neat pile of clothes stacked on it, as well as a plate of food. Looking closer, he noticed a little piece of paper was sitting on the top of the clothes pile. Jason carefully stood up, and made sure his legs could hold the weight of his body before stepping over to the other bed.

Jason picked up the note and read it to himself. _"I washed your shirt and got you another pair of jeans. There's a bucket of water and soap in the bathroom on the second floor. You stink worse than an Infected carcass on a hot summer day. Meet me in the house across the street when you're done. –Riley" _The boy smirked at her sarcasm even when writing notes. He set the note on the nightstand and examined the plate of food. Canned peaches, eggs mixed with onion and venison, and an apple sat on it. Having not eaten in days, Jason wolfed the food down, leaving nothing but the apple core and some peach juice on the plate. When he was finished wiping his mouth, he headed upstairs to the bathroom.

After scrubbing himself clean, the dark-haired boy felt much better. His healing gashes stung when water had passed over them, but there was nothing better than feeling clean after a week of not washing. Jason shook the water out of his hair and combed his fingers through it. Buttoning up his green plaid shirt, he shoved the notepad from yesterday and a pen in his pocket. He walked out of the house and went to go find Riley.

It turned out the blonde was sitting on the front steps of the mansion she had indicated, polishing her wooden bow. She glanced up when she heard Jason's footsteps, but made no motion to greet him as he sat down next to her. Jason didn't miss the brightening of her eyes when she saw him, though.

"Sleep well, Blue Jay?" Riley queried half-heartedly, setting her bow down. She turned to her quiver of arrows and started wiping the dried blood off the arrowheads with a damp cloth.

Jason mutely nodded, but he frowned at her. She was oddly stiff and her movements seemed robotic. Riley's motions were always fluid and her tone was lively, even if it was sarcastic. Jason knew her well enough to know something was bothering her. He placed a hand on her shoulder, and she tensed. The boy dropped his hand, and gave her a concerned look.

Riley sighed as she met his eyes. "Nothing's wrong, Jay. It's just…it's weird having you around after so much time has passed. You know, one day you disappear and a year and a half later you just show up again. It'll take me a little bit to get used to having you around. How are your cuts?" She asked, putting a clean arrow back into her quiver. She took out another one and repeated the cleaning process.

The dark-haired boy shrugged, but then winced at the motion. His gashes were better, but he has nowhere near to being fully recovered. That would take a good week or two. He inclined his head toward her arrows and raised an eyebrow in question.

The blonde followed his gaze and smirked. "I'm a huntress as well as an amateur nurse, you know. I can shoot a gun as well as I can arrows. I just hate getting blood on these little beauties. Do you think you can shoot a gun?" She queried, glancing at him. His wet hair grew longer after a year and a half, and though it was short, some of his bangs were starting to fall into his eyes. Riley had the urge to brush them out of his face, but restrained herself.

Jason pursed his lips in thought, and then slowly nodded after a moment. He wasn't in too much pain, but he had to remind himself not to make sudden movements. Shooting shouldn't be too strenuous for him. Riley's lips twitched upwards at the corners and she tossed the damp rag at him, now stained in places with red. "Help me clean the arrows, and then we'll go to the shooting range. I'll get another cloth." She said she stood up and walked back inside the enormous house. Jason rolled his eyes and began scrubbing the tiny arrowhead. He poked himself a couple of times, but was determined to do a good job. Riley came back a minute later and started cleaning herself. After all twelve arrows were shiny and free of blood, the blonde slung the quiver over her shoulder and picked up her bow. She didn't look back as she took the wide steps two at a time, expecting Jason to follow her. He did, of course.

The pair walked up the street and Jason noticed the house he had hid in looming up as they got closer. The garage door was open, and he had to blink twice as he set eyes at what was inside. A chestnut horse eyed them as they passed, picking its head up from the mound of hay it was eating. Jason stopped and stared in disbelief.

Riley halted as she followed her friend's gaze. She smiled and informed him, "That's Charlie, our horse. We use him for hunting and transporting big game. I'm not letting you ride him, for obvious reasons. He's the only horse we have." The girl yanked on Jason's sleeve and he stumbled, quickly righting himself before he fell. He continued to follow Riley until they came to the alley of the house next door. She strode between the two houses, and the pair came out into the backyard of the house, which had been converted into a shooting range. A few men glanced up from the weapons racks and nodded in greeting at Riley, but gave Jason a suspicious glance.

The shooting range looked like any normal outdoor range. Benches were set up at one end with weapons racks, and cardboard targets stood at the other. They were pockmarked with bullets holes. A low hill rose up behind the shooting range, and at the top stood the concrete wall, solid and impenetrable. Jason could see sentries walking along the top of it, rifles in hand.

Riley strode over to the weapons racks, where a few hunting rifles, sniper rifles, pistols, and revolvers sat. On a table next to it was assorted ammunition for the guns. The blonde's gaze passed over the weapons, and she eyed them as if choosing which toy she should play with from a toy box. She finally chose a hunting rifle and shrugged her quiver off. Riley leaned her bow against the table as she grabbed a box of bullets. She noticed Jason watching her and frowned. "Don't stand around dawdling; pick something. We don't have all day."

Jason nodded curtly and stepped over to the rack of guns. He chose a revolver and picked up a box of appropriate ammunition. He briefly wondered why these people were wasting bullets so carelessly, and creased his brow as he stared at the box. His former comrade noticed his concerned expression and reassured him, "Don't worry, they're blanks. We wouldn't use real bullets in training, dumbass. Who even does that?"

Riley strode over to the benches and loaded up her rifle. Jason did the same with his revolver and the pair started shooting at the targets. Shooting things that didn't shoot back always relaxed Jason, but it didn't work this time. Whether it was the loud bang that came from Riley's rifle right beside him or something else, he didn't know. He just felt constantly tense and felt something was missing. After a few rounds, Jason wandered over to the weapons racks and replaced his revolver. The shape of the gun always reminded him of a horse head.

"_A horse…Damn, I hope Pixie made it back. If she did, wouldn't someone have come to rescue me already? I wonder how Ellie and Dad are handling the horses without me…" _Jason felt a pang in his heart at the thought of the redhead and his family. He leaned against the table and sighed deeply through his nose. As glad as he was to see Riley again, the thought of home overshadowed that joy until only longing was the sole feeling in his mind.

"Blue Jay? What's up?" The blonde girl asked as she gently laid a hand on his shoulder. Jason started, having not heard her approach. "Sorry," Riley apologized, "I thought you heard me coming. So what's the matter? You look sad, to say the least." Her tone was gentle without a hint of her usual sarcasm. Riley could read him like a book, and there was almost nothing he could hide from her except his thoughts, but she even seemed to read those too, sometimes.

The dark-haired boy sighed again and took the notepad out from his pocket. He scribbled a single word down on it and handed it to her. "Home." Riley read out loud, passing the piece of paper back. "You're homesick, aren't you? I'd miss my family if I was ruthlessly kidnapped by bandits, too…That is, if I had any family left."

Jason scowled at her as if to say, "Not helping, Riley." The blonde rolled her eyes and set her rifle back on the rack. She tugged gently on the sleeve of his shirt and walked until they were out of earshot of the men at the shooting range. Once they were back on the deserted street, the blonde turned to him. "Listen, I know you want to get out of here. You're miserable. I can go back to your town and get a rescue group to come and get you. Nobody would know a thing, since I go in and out on hunting trips, anyway." Jason quickly wrote something down on the sheet of paper and handed it to her. She took one look at it, crumpled it up, and threw it away. "No, you can't come with me. Dale has this place on high alert now and if he notices you're gone, he'll send hell our way. It's too dangerous, Blue Jay. Plus, you're not in good enough condition to be sprinting with vicious dogs at your heels."

The dark-haired boy shuddered and wrote another note down. Riley read out loud, "Why am I so important to him?" She thought for a moment and then answered, "You're a bartering chip. From what he knows, you come from the most prosperous settlement in the area. If he has the upper hand in this, he won't let the opportunity pass."

Jason gave her a confused look. Riley sighed and expanded, "You're our hostage. Okay, _Dale's_ hostage. All that talk about recruiting you…he lied. Once you recover enough, he'll take you back to your settlement and demand a ransom. If you're important enough to your people, he'll make the ransom high enough so that it will cripple your town and he'll get all the perks. That's why I can't take you with me, Blue Jay. If I do, we'll both get killed. If I don't, we might have a chance of getting you rescued without losing your town in the process." She searched his warm brown eyes, begging him to understand. All she found was the stubborn expression he was giving her.

"Jason, _please_." The blonde used his full name, which caught the boy off guard. She never used his full name unless she was serious…or desperate. "You don't know Dale like I do. He'll do _anything_ to get what he wants. I know you want to go back home, and I wish it were that easy. Trust me, if you stay here, you'll stand a much better chance of getting rescued. I'll take Charlie and I'll be back in five days, I promise. Just mark the location of your town on a map and I'll go tomorrow. I won't let you be taken hostage, so just stay away from Dale until I come back with a group from your town, okay?" The strained tone of Riley's voice told Jason she was getting impatient. He had already seen enough of the girl's anger to know it wasn't a good idea to get on her bad side. Reluctantly, the dark-haired boy nodded.

Riley smiled in relief and wound her arms around his neck, giving him a hug. She didn't need words to explain her gratefulness towards him, and neither did he as he returned the hug. When they broke apart, Jason wrote another question down on a fresh piece of paper. Handing it to Riley, she read, "Why are you doing this for me?" The blonde opened her mouth to answer, but got cut off as someone called her name from down the street. "Sorry, I have to go. Stay out of trouble, okay?" Riley pecked Jason on the cheek and ran off to join the man that had summoned her. Jason smirked after her, hooking his thumbs into his front pockets. He strolled down the street, whistling to himself.

Jason lost himself in his thoughts as he walked along, and didn't notice the man in front of him until he bumped into him. The man turned around, ready to shout in annoyance, but his angry expression transformed into a sneer as he recognized Jason. "Well, look who it is. I've been waiting for you, kid." Jason knew the voice before he even looked up to see who he had bumped into. Dale leered back, his eyes bright like a cat's. A cat that had just caught a mouse.


	14. On the Road Again

"Ellie, get down!" Joel shouted as bullets whizzed past his head. They had stumbled upon a promising bandit encampment about two hour's ride east of Jackson County. It was a dilapidated train station with a few train cars in the train yard. The bandits didn't take too kindly to their arrival, not that that was surprising. Joel cursed as another bullet passed by. The noonday sun beamed down on them, and coupled with the rising humidity, the pair was already sweating. Ellie was hunkered down behind a large piece of concrete a few feet away from him. She resisted the urge to fire her rifle, as they had promised to come in peace. The pair didn't want a fire fight, and Joel was getting tired of shouting to the people shooting at them that they didn't come to steal anything from them.

The older man sighed in annoyance as he heard the unending taunts and jeers from the bandits, like a pack of hyenas surrounding their prey. Adrenaline rushed through his veins as it always did when someone was shooting at him. _"Just like old times…Can't say I've missed being shot at." _He thought to himself as he cradled his own rifle in his arms. Joel glanced over at Ellie's pale face, which was giving him a nervous, frightened look at the moment. He decided that enough was enough and tore at the sleeve of his white undershirt, which had long since turned a shade of light gray. Tying it to the barrel of his rifle, Joel hoisted the weapon upwards and began waving it.

The shooting gradually stopped and Joel cautiously emerged from his hiding spot behind an abandoned husk of a car. The sparse group of bandits gathered along the train tracks, coming out from behind the walls of the train station, out of the train cars, and down from the roof. Joel made a motion to Ellie, indicating that she should follow him. The redhead obliged and both stood up with their hands up.

The older man quickly did a head count and determined that there were less than twenty bandits, all men. They looked feral, intimidating, and vicious as they pointed their guns at him. Their faces were gaunt and dirty, and their eyes were hollow, devoid of any compassion. One of the men broke apart from the group and eyed Joel warily. He seemed to be about 35, in Joel's opinion. His dark eyes held a certain glint, like the cunning eyes of a fox. Or perhaps it was malice that made the man's eyes gleam, Joel didn't know. He looked like the leader of the bandits, judging from his upright, domineering posture and harsh gaze that demanded respect.

"Let me do the talking, Ellie. Don't say a word, do you understand?" Joel demanded, and Ellie nodded.

"Decided to give up, eh?" The man jeered, giving a light chuckle. Joel placed his accent as Mexican.

"We never meant you any harm, we just want to talk." Joel stated calmly, shouldering his rifle. He indicated for Ellie to do the same. Reluctantly, she copied him.

The leader of the bandits roared with mocking laughter, and his comrades behind him chortled. When he calmed down, he spread his arms out wide. "You come to my territory with rifles and you say you don't _mean any harm_? You make me laugh, my friend. Please, before we blow you and your little girl to bits, entertain me with more of your American lies." The Mexican said sarcastically as he cocked his revolver.

"We're not lying, you slimy bastard! We're just looking for someone!" Ellie shouted furiously, making Joel growl a warning to her.

The younger man raised an eyebrow in surprise at her outburst, but it quickly passed. "You've got a mouth on you, don't you, _puta_? Aren't we all looking for someone…a parent, a sibling, a child, a lover?" Ellie winced slightly at the word "lover", but the bandit went on. "If what you say is true, _puta, _then we might be able to make a trade; my information for some of your supplies?" The sneer never left the bandit's face. Joel's knowledge of Spanish was limited, but he was quite sure _puta _wasn't a compliment.

"What kind of supplies are we talking about? We could trade you ammo or rations. It's all we've got." Joel was willing to play nice in tense situations like this, but his patience was wearing thin. He hated when he didn't have the upper hand.

The leader conferred with one of his comrades for a moment, and then turned back to Joel. "We have made our decision. We will trade our information for a box of your hunting rifle ammo. Cough it up." He held out a hand, curling two fingers towards himself expectantly. Joel dug around in his rucksack for the ammunition, but he didn't give it to the man. The bandit eyed the box hungrily, and Joel shook it to let him know it was half-full.

"We'll go first, if you don't mind." The older man stated, and felt a little bit better since he now had the upper hand. The leader nodded, although his eyes narrowed in irritation at Joel. The younger man ran a hand through his inky black hair as Joel continued, "As my 'little girl' said, we're looking for someone. Did you see a group of people pass by, leading a black and white horse with a teenaged boy on it?"

The younger man pursed his lips in thought, and turned around as one of his comrades tapped his shoulder. The man whispered something in the leader's ear, too quiet for Joel and Ellie to hear. The leader nodded curtly, and faced the pair again. "We did. They passed about five days ago, and stopped near here to water the horse. Although, one of my sentries has just informed me that the boy they had with them did not look to be in good condition. They went east. That is all we know. Hand us the ammo and we will let you leave in peace. I am in a good mood today, so I will not shoot you where you stand." His cracked lips turned upwards in a sneer again, and Joel tossed the box of rifle bullets to him. He backed away slowly with Ellie behind him, his eyes never leaving the bandits as they dispersed to their previous posts. When they were a safe distance away, Joel turned around and ushered Ellie into the woods, where the bay horse was tied up to a tree branch.

"What did I say about opening your mouth, Ellie? He could have shot you for that." The older man scolded as they mounted the horse. They began walking in an easterly direction, just like the bandit had told them.

"He was pissing me off, Joel. Was I supposed to let him tease us? Plus, it got him to get to the point and now we know where Jason went." Ellie muttered from behind the older man. They rode in silence for about ten minutes, listening to the chatter of birds in the trees and the wind rustling their leaves.

Ellie was mulling over the bandit leader's words, and the seed of doubt that was planted in her mind began to sprout. "What if the bandit was saying the truth, Joel? Jason passed through here in bad condition and it's been almost a week already. What if he really is dead?"

Joel turned his head to look at her over his shoulder. "We've been riding for two hours and your determination is wavering already? Don't believe everything strangers say, Ellie. He was just trying to get to you." He reassured the young girl gruffly, and urged the horse into a trot. It was much cooler here in the forest, and they were both glad for the shade of the trees.

"So you admit that you think Jason's alive? I never knew you to be an optimist, Joel." The redhead smirked at Joel's sigh. She could always turn a phrase on its head to suit her.

"I didn't say that, I just said not to believe strangers. You'll drive me nuts if you keep reading into everything I say." The older man answered, and Ellie chuckled. They lapsed into another silence, merely enjoying each other's company. When Ellie's grumbling stomach broke the quiet an hour later, they stopped and ate some of their rations.

Ellie stuffed a handful of almonds into her mouth, passing the bag to Joel. He took a handful and ate the nuts one by one, savouring the salty taste. He froze when he heard the not-so-distant sound of a few Clickers. He glanced at Ellie and saw that she too had heard the noise. Joel put a finger to his lips and they both reached for their rifles. Loading and cocking the guns, the pair crept toward the direction of the noise. They reached the top of a small hill nearby, and watched from the top of it.

Beyond the hill the land slanted steeply downward into a small valley. Where the ground levelled out was the remnants of a trailer park. Most of the trailers were either burnt out or tipped over, though. About five or six Runners, from what Ellie could see, crouched over corpses, eating the remains. Experience told the young girl that there were probably many more Infected inside the trailers. The Clickers that she heard staggered about, calling to each other in their awful, chattering voices.

Ellie's eyes turned toward the corpses that the Infected were feeding on. They didn't seem to be old, probably less than a week at most. She found herself searching for a familiar body among the corpses with brown hair, but stopped herself. She wouldn't let herself believe that Jason was among the dead down there.

The redhead heard Joel shout, but didn't register what he had said until he grabbed her shoulder and threw her to the side. Ellie came back to reality just as she heard the two successive bangs of Joel's rifle and a Clicker fell dead at the spot where she had just been. Adrenaline pulsed through Ellie's veins as she heard the wails of Runners growing louder. The sounds of more Clickers joined them and the redhead started shooting. She and Joel had an advantage because they were at the top of the hill, whereas the scrambling Infected were trying to climb the steep incline. Ellie counted about a dozen in all.

Joel threw a Molotov into the heart of the mass of Infected, relishing their shrieks of pain with a sadistic sense of satisfaction. Ellie shot at any stragglers who weren't engulfed by the flames charring their fellow Infected to a crisp. Within fifteen minutes, the last dying screams of Runners faded into nothingness and the quiet of the forest returned. The adrenaline in Ellie's veins subsided and she shouldered her rifle.

"Well, that was fun. What do you say we go check that trailer park out? I need more rifle ammo now." Ellie said in a chipper tone. What she really wanted to do was identify the bodies, but she wouldn't tell Joel that. The older man shrugged and went back for the horse. They rode down the hill and the red-haired girl dismounted. She looted the burned Infected for anything useful, and pocketed a few revolver bullets. Thankfully, she didn't find any familiar faces in the now deceased group of Infected, or in the non-infected corpses. Jason wasn't here, at least. It gave her some hope, but not much.

After about twenty minutes searching the trailers, all Ellie found was five hunting rifle bullets, some pistol ammo, and a usable brick. Joel found some bandages and rubbing alcohol, and stored that in his rucksack while Ellie reloaded her respective weapons. They remounted the horse and continued on their journey.

* * *

"I bet your parents must really miss you, huh kid? I bet you want to go back home." Dale sneered, making Jason stare impassively at the hulking man. Now that he got a proper look that the man, Jason noted his close-set, hazel, stupid-looking eyes, his black hair was styled in a military buzz cut, and the stink that wafted off the man made him want to gag.

Dale continued, regardless of Jason's bored look. "I can take you home, kid. Your friends and family would be real happy to see your face, wouldn't they? What do you say?" The black-haired man purred, and Jason saw for the first time why Dale was the leader of this camp. He was persuasive, and knew the weaknesses of his enemies.

Jason spat at the man's feet, giving him a defiant look. Of course he couldn't _say _anything, and neither did he believe the man. Riley told him that Dale would take him hostage and demand a ransom from the citizens of Jackson County. Then Dale would probably shoot him once he got what he wanted. The dark-haired boy wasn't keen on playing along with the older man's game.

"You must be wondering why I'm suddenly being so generous." Dale said, ignoring Jason's insulting gesture of spitting at him, "I feel like I've been treating you too harshly, and everyone knows that's not the way to treat children. You work for me now, and I tend to be a very fair boss around here. Have you ever been a sentry?"

The young boy nodded. _"Treating me harshly is an understatement, you good-for-nothing bastard. I'm not a goddamned child, either." _Jason wanted to say, but he couldn't. Sometimes he was glad he couldn't talk. It was so much easier to bluff that way.

The black-haired man smirked. He clapped Jason on the shoulder, right where one of his many cuts was. Jason winced and grunted in pain, earning a slight chuckle from Dale. He gripped the boy's shoulder harder, and steered him towards the concrete wall, where a set of steps was located. Jason climbed the stairs and Dale handed him a rifle that was leaning against the railing.

"You were a soldier, I know you can shoot. You'll be out here until sunset, so make yourself useful. You're not allowed down for any reason other than injuries, and Mickey here will be watching you." Dale pointed to a shady-looking, gray-haired man in a tattered duster and a scraggly beard. "If you try to escape, I give him permission to shoot you. If you fall asleep, he will kick you until you wake up. Understand, boy?"

Jason nodded and the black-haired man chuckled. He waved goodbye to Mickey and descended the steps. The dark-haired boy sighed through his nose, relieved that Dale was finally gone. He settled himself against the wall, and looked down. Suddenly dizzy, Jason looked back up. He hated heights. It was about a good one-storey drop to the ground on the other side, enough to break bones. The rest of the town extended beyond the concrete wall, but there wasn't much to it. More dilapidated, less expensive-looking townhouses were bunched together in the form of crescents and private streets. A gas station was a kilometer or so away and abandoned cars stood in the once bustling streets, now devoid of life. Thick forests bordered the residential area, and Jason knew that if he could get to the woods, he would be safe. He figured he would get shot or chased down by dogs before he could get to the forest, and that didn't included the very likely possibility of breaking a leg from the fall. Discarding the idea, he gazed down at the streets below him, searching for any suspicious movement.

By sunset, Jason's stomach was constantly grumbling from lack of food. He was practically dead on his feet. His throat was parched, although Mickey had been nice enough to offer him a swing from his bottle of water every hour. The dark-haired boy's legs were sore from standing for so long, and where Mickey had kicked him for drifting off once or twice. Okay, maybe five times. Nothing interesting happened, but Jason did get to shoot at a few Infected stupid enough to come within the range of his rifle. Once he got back to the house that was the infirmary, he found Riley waiting for him on one of the beds.

"I told you to stay away from Dale. I knew he would make you do something stupid, like sentry duty. Did he promise you anything?" Riley asked as she offered her friend a plate of canned corn and a slab of smoked venison. Jason nodded as he eagerly wolfed the food down, and drank the glass of water all in one go. Once he was finished, he took out his notepad and wrote down what had happened with Dale.

The blonde read the piece of paper and nodded. "He can see you're miserable as much as I can. Well, I've brought a map with me and I'm just packing medical supplies for tomorrow. Can you mark down where your town is?" Riley brought out a folded rectangle of paper from her pocket and spread it out on the floor. In the fading sunlight, Jason marked the spot where the name "Jackson County" was located.

Riley gave a low whistle at the distance she had to cross. "Wow, that is some trek. Lucky I have Charlie, or I would be out there for a week. Is there anyone in particular that you would want me to bring back, you know, for fighting?" She asked, and Jason got out his notepad again. He wrote down the names of some of the people who were good shots, mostly men. He wrote down another request at the bottom of the page, and Riley narrowed her eyes at it.

"Okay, so you want me to bring these people, and tell this 'Ellie' girl you're all right and that you miss her?" The blonde's tone was skeptical as she ran her eyes over the phrase again. She met the dark-haired boy's eyes and Jason saw a flicker of an uncharacteristic emotion behind Riley's blue eyes. He recognized it as jealousy, but then reminded himself Riley was above such childish behaviours. She wouldn't get jealous of someone she didn't know. "So what does this 'Ellie' look like, Blue Jay?" The girl's voice took on its usual sarcastic quality, but he noticed there was more venom in it than before. He began to doubt if he should have told Riley about Ellie, but Ellie needed to know how he was doing.

Jason scribbled down a few of Ellie's traits, such as her red hair, green eyes, shorter stature, and that she usually had an older man named Joel with her. Riley studied the list and gathered up the map, along with her medical supplies. "I'll be sure to tell Ellie about you if I bump into her." Riley said. _Not. _She added in her head as Jason gave her a grateful look, settling himself down on the bed. Riley left the house and walked out into the darkness. Jason's exhaustion pulled him into a deep slumber within minutes.

* * *

Joel and Ellie traveled to a few more bandit encampments during their second day, but none of them had Jason there. Some bandits just flat out refused to talk and the pair had to move on before they were riddled with more holes than Swiss cheese. After an exhaustive day of riding and getting shot at, they made a fire in a small clearing after the sun had went down, like they so often did before arriving back at Jackson County. Crickets chirped in the grass around them and fireflies performed their dances in the tall grass at the edge of the clearing. The stars shone beyond the trees, twinkling and winking down at the pair. The heat of the day had subsided as the sun sunk below the horizon, and it was getting chillier.

Ellie sat, gazing at the fire in front of her. The flames threw light in all directions, like a candle in the darkness. She never got tired of the way the fire danced, shimmered, and cracked as it burned the wood to ashes. Joel sat on the opposite side of the fire, reloading every weapon he had brought with him. The bay horse grazed a few feet away, swishing its inky black tail at any mosquitoes. Ellie lay back and began to drift off, using her backpack as a pillow.

Suddenly, a rustling noise in the bushes beyond the fire woke her. The redhead sat up, fully alert, and Joel already had his revolver cocked. He pointed it in the direction of the sound. "Who's there? Show yourself!" He demanded as the rustling noise grew louder and Ellie reached for her pistol.

A lone figure emerged from the darkness of the woods. "Don't shoot, I'm a friend." A girl's voice pierced through the tense silence. Joel still didn't put his revolver down.

"Give any weapons to me, girl." Joel ordered, and Ellie tried to make out the girl's features in the darkness. The firelight reflected off blonde hair, and bright blue eyes. She was wearing a hunter's camouflage pants, jacket, and shiny black army boots. The blonde set down her sniper rifle, the bow and quiver strapped across her back, and a pistol at Joel's feet. A folded up switchblade bounced off the barrel of her rifle with a clang.

"That's it. Can I sit down now? I've been riding the whole day, and I'm really tired." The unknown girl complained as she brought out a horse from the bushes. Its chestnut coat gleamed like copper in sunlight as the firelight struck it. Joel nodded his approval and the girl sat down with a sigh. As she settled herself, Ellie studied her. Her blonde hair shone like gold in the light of the fire, and her thin, lean figure made Ellie self-conscious. She was tall and her blue eyes analyzed everything they saw. Her upright, stiff posture reminded her of a soldier's.

The older man moved the weapons out of the girl's reach and asked gruffly, "What's your name, girl? What are you doing out here all by yourself?"

The blonde flicked her hair away from her face in a way that made Ellie jealous of the girl's silky locks. "The name's Riley. As for what I'm doing, I'm on my way to a place called Jackson County. Have you heard of it?"


	15. I Can't Stand You

**A/N: I was given the idea of a catfight between Ellie and Riley by one of my fabulous reviewers. GodofLazors, this first part's for you. Hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it! Also, thank you to all of my other reviewers, readers, favouriters, and followers. You guys rock! Keep it up!**

Ellie and Joel threw surprised looks at Riley. "Actually, we were just on our way back there. How do you know where Jackson County is?" The latter asked, narrowing his eyes.

"Umm…I can read a map, duh." Riley snorted, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. Ellie already disliked the girl's sarcastic attitude. Although, she reminded herself, she hadn't been that different.

Joel ignored the blonde's sarcasm and continued, "What business do you have in Jackson? You some kind of messenger?"

Riley shrugged. She picked at a loose thread on the knee of her camouflage pants. "I guess you could say that. I'm on an errand for a friend of mine." She answered vaguely, and didn't seem inclined to elaborate. The blonde stood up and brushed the dirt off the back of her pants. She strolled over to her chestnut gelding and started fiddling with the horse's girth.

"What are you doing?" Ellie queried, curiosity overpowering her jealousy of Riley for a moment.

Riley glanced over her shoulder, as if surprised that the other girl was there. She gave the redhead a bored glance, as if tired of her presence already. "I'm loosening Charlie's girth for the night. You don't want your horse to end up with sores, do you? I'd take the saddle off, but you never know when we might have to make a quick escape during the night." Her tone was snarky, as if she thought Ellie was stupid for not knowing the information.

Ellie shook her head and went over to her own bay horse. Her cheeks felt hot for some reason, but she didn't know why. It was like she was embarrassed of neglecting something so simple for her horse, but at the same time she hated to be told about it. Ellie felt lucky it was dark because the others couldn't see her face.

Joel held up a hand. "Wait, when did we ever agree to let you stay the night with us?" He said in annoyance. It was obvious he didn't like Riley much, either.

The blonde didn't turn to look at him, and moved on to untying a sleeping bag from the back of her saddle. It was tattered and ripped at the seams, but it was better than sleeping on the ground. "Well, I need a place to stay for the night and since we're travelling to the same place, why shouldn't I tag along? There is safety in numbers, after all."

Joel grunted. The girl had a point. He had to give it to Riley, the girl was smart and bold. Ellie now had some competition in the stubbornness department. Ellie came back to sit by the fire, an opened can of peaches in her hand. She handed Joel a fork and they both began eating from the metal container. Riley spread her sleeping bag out a safe distance away from the flames and got her own baggie of jerky out. She sat down and began gnawing on the dried meat.

"So, what are your names? I told you mine, so it's only fair you tell me yours." The blonde said between bites of jerky. "Plus, if we're going to be travelling together, we might as well get to know each other."

The older man responded first. "I'm Joel. This is Ellie." He said gruffly, not keen on elaborating past first names. The more strangers knew about you, the more control they had over you.

Riley's head snapped up, and she stopped mid-chew. She stuffed the piece of jerky back into the bag and dug around inside the flap of her jacket. Pulling out a small piece of paper, the blonde squinted to read it in the dim light of the fire. She glanced from Ellie to the paper repeatedly, as if comparing notes. Finally, she shoved the paper back inside her coat pocket and resumed her cool, collected expression. "_That's _who you were talking about? Damn, Blue Jay, you've lowered your standards. You got desperate without me, I see…" Riley chuckled quietly to herself.

Ellie raised an eyebrow. "Who's Blue Jay?" She queried, narrowing her eyes at Riley from across the fire.

The blonde glanced up from her half-eaten piece of jerky. Surprise passed over her face, but it was gone in a blink. She didn't think anyone had heard her. "No one important. It's none of your concern, Ellie." She said casually, ripping off another portion of dried meat with her teeth.

The redhead huffed and decided to let the matter alone. Clearly this Blue Jay guy _was _important to Riley, but the blonde was entitled to her secrets, Ellie supposed. It would only make Riley angrier if she pried. The older girl looked about seventeen or eighteen to Ellie, and definitely didn't seem like anyone she wanted to mess with.

After a few minutes of silence and eating Joel announced, "I'm going to hit the hay. Riley, you take first watch. We'll switch at midnight. You can take your handgun back, but I give Ellie permission to knife you if you try anything funny."

"_With pleasure, Joel." _The redhead smiled inside her head.

Riley gave Joel a salute, which to Ellie looked uncannily accurate to a real soldier's. "Aye aye, Captain." The girl's tone was the complete opposite of her formal gesture: sarcastic and casual. The smirk that came with her voice emphasized the contradiction even more.

As Joel settled himself on the ground by the fire, Ellie remained awake. She watched as the blonde silently picked up her handgun from the pile at the other side of the fire and twirled it around her index finger. As she stepped over to her previous spot, Riley remarked, "What are _you_ staring at?" She sat down facing outwards, scanning the bushes.

"Nothing. You just seem so…" Ellie trailed off, unsure of what negative adjective to pick for the girl. There were so many, she couldn't choose.

"Confident? Cunning? Beautiful? I get that a lot, don't worry. Maybe someday you will, too." Riley smiled and flicked her golden hair away from her face.

"I was going to say 'bitchy', but conceited, selfish, and rude would work, too." Ellie smirked back, and got a little bit of satisfaction when Riley's smile faltered for a split-second. Her expression quickly reverted to cheerful, however.

"I got that quite often from my subordinates in the military. All of the girls were jealous because the guys couldn't keep their hands off me." Riley inspected her nails, but didn't miss the smirk disappearing from Ellie's face. "I can tell you envy me, Ellie. You wouldn't be the first." The blonde said haughtily. In truth she hadn't had any subordinates in Denver, or was romantically involved with anyone except Jason, if their first kiss together counted as "romantically involved". Ellie didn't need to know either pieces of information.

Ellie's expression remained stony. She wouldn't let this girl get to her. The blonde reminded her of her deceased friend of the same name quite a bit, and had an almost identical attitude. Ellie hated that Riley when she had first met her, as well. "I'm not jealous. You're just being a bitch. Who would be jealous of a smart-ass, narcissistic, impertinent person like you?" The redhead retorted.

The infuriating half-smile reappeared on Riley's face. "If you say so, ginger."

"What did you call me?" The red-haired girl growled, feeling her annoyance turn into bubbling anger. She had been called that name many times before, and the people who called her that tended to get injured immediately afterwards. She felt for her switchblade in her coat pocket and pulled it out.

"What are you, deaf? I called you a ginger. You know, a derogatory name for people with red-" Riley didn't get to finish her sentence because suddenly Ellie was on top of her, holding her unfolded switchblade to her neck. The impact caused the blonde to let go of her pistol. It thudded when it hit the ground, spinning away from her.

"Take it back, or I'll stab you until you do!" Ellie shouted, and the sudden noise made the horses pick their heads up in surprise. They watched the skirmish warily, pawing at ground. The wild, dangerous glint in Ellie's green eyes told the blonde that she wasn't the first victim of her switchblade.

Riley held Ellie's hand with the blade away from her neck, but she could still feel the cold metal slicing into her skin, drawing a bead of blood. "No way! Get the fuck off me, punk!" The blonde hissed furiously, gripping Ellie's wrist harder. She reached frantically for her pistol with her free hand, but it was too far away. Instead, Riley dug her nails into the younger girl's skin, earning a slight wince from her. Only the fact that she was stronger than the redhead kept Riley's throat from being sliced open.

Suddenly the pressure of the Ellie's body disappeared, along with the sharp blade at Riley's throat. She sat up and chuckled as Joel dragged a squirming and cussing Ellie away from her. The blonde lifted a hand to her neck, her fingers coming away wet. Swearing under her breath, she pulled a rag from her coat pocket and held it to the cut.

"Stop! That's enough, Ellie!" The older man scolded, tightening his grip on his adopted daughter's struggling body. He had imprisoned her in an unaffectionate bear hug from behind. After realizing that resistance was futile, the younger girl ceased her escape attempt and her cussing died down to angry panting.

"You need to muzzle your puppy there, Joel. She's a feisty little brat." Riley remarked smugly, and stood up to get a bottle of rubbing alcohol from one of her saddlebags. She didn't wince as she dabbed the stinging liquid on the open cut.

"I know. You don't need to encourage her to lose her temper, either. Next time I won't hold her back." Joel threatened as he released the redhead. She stumbled away from him, but caught herself before she could fall.

Riley made a noise in her throat that indicated she didn't care. Not only was she stronger than Ellie, but her military training made dealing with violent people like her child's play. The redhead got a blanket from the bay gelding's saddle and spread on the ground, using it as a bed sheet. Joel went back to sleep and Riley picked up her handgun, cocking it. She sat down on her sleeping bag once more, the adrenaline from having a knife at her throat fading away. The blonde yawned widely, but sleep was a long ways off. She still had a few hours to go until it was Joel's turn to keep watch.

"Goodnight, Ellie." Riley casually said to the younger girl, with a hint of sarcasm. She rested her head on her knees, watching the darkness beyond the fire's ring of light for movement.

The blonde heard the rustle of Ellie's jacket somewhere off to her left, and caught sight of the redhead's hand flashing upwards. She didn't need to focus on it to know that she had made an obscene gesture towards her. Riley chuckled quietly to herself. It was going to be an interesting two days riding back to Jackson County.

* * *

The day Riley had left, Jason spent the whole of it at Dale's mercy. The man didn't stop at giving the boy hell using his whip. With Riley gone, Jason had no one to curb Dale's sadistic tendencies. The dark-haired boy was put on sentry duty for the morning, which merely made his back ache worse than it already did. He made the boy fetch water from a stream a quarter of a mile away only to knock the buckets out of his hands, spilling the liquid when he came back. Jason was never out of Dale's sight, even outside of the settlement. The man was like a looming shadow, always present and always intimidating. Jason wanted to slug the man across the face until he was unconscious or dead, preferably the latter. Unfortunately he couldn't due to his injuries. The boy forced himself to keep his anger down, letting it bottle up. He planned to take it out on Dale as soon as his own back couldn't split open like a ripped seam.

Dale seemed to have nothing better to do than to torture and humiliate the newcomer. He always had some kind of task for the boy to do, no matter how tired he was. Whether it was weeding the gardens for hours, digging latrines in one of the mansion's backyards, or fixing the barricades around the settlement, the leader of the bandits allowed Jason no rest. By the time the day was over, Jason couldn't even take his shirt off to nurse his various cuts and swelling bruises from where Dale had beat him whenever he felt like it. He collapsed onto his bed in the infirmary, drained of all energy.

"_What doesn't kill me makes me stronger…right?" _The dark-haired boy told himself as he watched the last of the sun's rays disappear behind the concrete wall. His lashes hadn't made him stronger, just weaker. His exhausted muscles couldn't even work together to lift his limbs anymore. Jason had discarded that thought and sleep eventually allowed him to rest his weary body for the first time since waking up. Needless to say, he missed Riley. She never would have let Dale treat him as his personal slave. Riley seemed to be the only person capable of controlling Dale, but whether it was because of her dominant nature or the fact that she could take him out with one hand tied behind her back, he didn't know.

The only thing that made that day worse was the looks and glances the other members of the settlement gave Jason as he passed by with Dale at his heels. They were looks of pity, concern, sympathy, and some of them were even smug. This didn't seem like new behaviour for Dale. In fact, it seemed like they had all been through the same thing. No wonder nobody decided to commit mutiny or just assassinate Dale in his sleep. They were all afraid of him, afraid of the repercussions of disobeying the man. He was the tyrant, and the members of the settlement his subjects.

The next morning, Jason silently groaned in agony as his nerves came back online, sending messages to his brain that only contained one thing: pain. Every muscle in his body felt strained, and the lactic acid buildup in them only added to the soreness. Jason didn't want to move, and every twitch was like the prick of a needle. Hunger pangs from missing lunch, dinner, and now breakfast increased his misery.

The dark-haired boy heard footsteps echo throughout the deserted house, but they weren't the heavy footfalls that usually preceded Dale's arrival. Jason had come to dread the sound of the man's footsteps. Instead these were lighter.

"Morning, Jason. Here, I made breakfast. Eat up; Dale wants you outside when you're done." The voice of Isabelle reached his ears, providing a tiny bit of relief. The younger girl made him food when Riley wasn't there the previous day, but since Dale didn't allow him the luxury of lunch and he had fallen asleep before dinner, Izzy hadn't had the chance to give him something to eat. She was being uncharacteristically nice to him, maybe because she now knew her sister-figure had a thing for him or maybe it was just because she knew he felt like shit. Either way, he was grateful that at least one person was being kind to him.

This time when Jason groaned in pain as he sat up, a sound actually came out. It was quiet, but it was definitely a noise that came from his throat. Izzy glanced up, surprised he had made a sound. "Did you just make a noise? I thought you couldn't do that." She said, setting a plate of food down beside him. "It's eggs and green onion." The raven-haired girl clarified as Jason picked up the plate and gulfed the food down, despite his sore muscles. He gave the plate back with a grateful nod.

Taking his notepad from the nightstand, Jason scribbled something down and handed it to the younger girl. "I can whisper things; I just choose this or sign language." Izzy read aloud. Her face brightened as she replied, "Cool, I thought all Cobras were mute for the rest of their lives. I guess that wouldn't make sense, though, because your vocal cords heal…So say something."

Jason glanced nervously at her. He hadn't talked since his vocal cords were cut, but it wasn't like he had forgotten how to form words and speak. "Good…morning, Izzy." The dark-haired boy spoke quietly. His voice sounded like someone recovering from laryngitis, and he coughed right after he said the words. However, there were the beginnings of a tenor voice amidst the hoarseness. Jason smiled widely. The momentary joy of speaking made him forget about the pain he was in.

Izzy clapped her hands in delight. "For a guy who hasn't spoken in a year and a half, you don't sound half-bad! Just keep practicing and don't push it, I guess. I have to go, so I'll be back at dinner. If you're not asleep, that is." She ruffled Jason's hair in a brotherly way and jogged out of the house. Something shiny fell out of her pocket as she left, but the girl didn't seem to notice.

"Thanks, Izzy." The boy whispered after her, coughing once more. It hurt his back and ribs every time he coughed, but he was sure it would stop with practice and time. He carefully put his shirt back on, and noticed it wasn't dirty and sweaty anymore. Izzy must have washed it, he determined.

Jason gingerly stood up and followed the same path as the younger girl. He picked up the shiny object she had dropped and realized it was a folded-up switchblade. Jason smiled and pocketed it. He didn't want to go see Dale, but it was either he went to the man or the man came to him. At least if he showed up out of his own free will he wasn't going to get beaten or whipped on sight.

Dale was waiting for the boy in the middle of the street, his hands at parade rest behind his back. He lips turned up into their usual sneer as Jason approached. "Fine day today, isn't it kid?" He called. Jason's expression remained stony. He would hardly call today "fine". It was overcast, the wind had picked up, and if he guessed right, there was going to be a storm later on today. He hoped Riley would make it to Jackson County before it hit.

The black-haired man pulled something out from his pocket as Jason halted a few feet away from him. It was a mid-length, thin piece of rope. The boy glanced at it curiously. _"What are you going to do with that? Hang me?" _He thought, snickering to himself.

Dale caught the boy's amused look and clarified, "We're going to do some work with the dogs today. You'll be our guinea pig. You like dogs, kid?" The glint of malice in the man's hazel eyes suggested that he knew very well that Jason did _not _like dogs.

Jason knew the man was baiting him, and didn't reply. The black-haired man didn't bother to wait for one as he shoved the boy forward, pointing to one of the mansion's backyards. He noticed it was the backyard of the house that he had met Riley at two days ago. The barking, growling, and general din of dog noises rose in volume as the pair entered the backyard through the alleyway. A sizable kennel had been set up, sectioned into six pens for six dogs. The fence was chain-link, driven into the ground. Dogs of various mixtures jumped up and barked at the pair, their sharp teeth showing beneath their curled-back lips. Jason recognized a couple of the breeds as German Shepherd and Rottweiler, but the others were mutts.

A shiver of fear ran down the dark-haired boy's spine at the sight of the vicious canines. Dogs didn't generally like him and he had been attacked more than once by the animals back in Denver. Civilians would set their dogs on him or members of his squad and the military never issued extra body armour like arm guards. Needless to say, he hated them. Jason was alright with a horse galloping towards him because it would usually stop before it hit him, and didn't use its teeth. Dogs didn't stop and not only used their teeth, but claws as well.

"Beauties, aren't they? They used to be military dogs in the Denver Quarantine Zone, and we brought them over with us. You recognize them, don't you?" Dale asked, and Jason shook his head. He had never been in the K-9 Unit, and frankly didn't want to start now.

Dale shrugged and opened one of the pens, sliding the rope around a Rottweiler's neck. The dog immediately calmed down and obeyed its master as soon as he had walked inside the pen. Dale came back out, leading the dog. It sat down and lolled its red tongue, looking expectantly up at the man. "This is Rosy, one of our Rottweilers. She looks well-behaved, but packs a mean bite. Here, get some padding from the bin over there. We're going to have a little fun with her." The black-haired man smiled sadistically, and Jason didn't move from his spot. He didn't want to be bitten by a vicious dog for this man's entertainment.

"What's the matter, boy?" Dale jeered as the dark-haired boy refused to obey him, "Don't want to play?" Jason leered back at the man, defiantly crossing him arms over his chest. "Okay, then. It's your funeral, kid." Dale snorted as he released the dog. Rosy charged after Jason and the boy high-tailed it out of the alley. The black-haired man roared with laughter, joined by the barking of the dogs in the pens. Jason didn't care if he found this funny; his only concern was trying to avoid getting torn apart by Rosy.

The dark-haired boy's sore body gradually got weaker, but he put on a burst of speed as he felt the Rottweiler literally snapping at his heels. After another minute of running, Jason's weary body gave out and he tumbled to the ground as the dog leaped on him. Rosy clamped her jaws down on Jason's right shoulder, and he yelped in agony as the dog's teeth sunk into his skin. He fumbled around in his pocket for Izzy's switchblade and quickly unfolded it, stabbing the dog's side repeatedly until it lay still. He felt his own blood and the dog's soaking his shirt, and shoved the animal's limp body off of his own.

Panting heavily, Jason put the blade back in his pocket before anyone could see. Dale appeared from around the corner of the alleyway, and Jason picked up an old piece of steel lying on the ground, already slick with the blood of the dog. The black-haired man gasped in horror as he approached the scene, his beloved dog stabbed to death and the boy giving him a death glare. Hate shone in his once kind brown eyes, and it was his turn to sneer at Dale. A vengeful smirk played across his now bloody face.

"What did you do, you son of a bitch?" Dale demanded furiously, his face flushing red with rage. He stood there, shaking with fury.

"_I think that's pretty obvious. I killed your dog, you motherfucking bastard. Serves you right for setting it on me." _Jason's smirk widened into his own sadistic smile at Dale's reaction to his dead dog. He spit on Rosy's corpse, eyeing it as if admiring a work of art.

"I'll kill you, boy. I didn't do it before, but I sure as shit will now!" The black-haired man pulled a revolver from his pocket and cocked it, pointing it at Jason. Jason felt the overwhelming urge to run, but forced himself to stay put.

Dale pulled the trigger, and a shot rang out in the silence of the settlement. Jason instinctively flinched, but he felt nothing. He opened his eyes and saw Dale on his knees, moaning in pain. Izzy stood behind him, holding a piece of metal pipe like a bat. She whacked Dale on the head once more, and the man crumpled to the ground, an ugly purple bruise beginning to show on the back of his head.

Jason stared at the raven-haired girl in shock. She nonchalantly flicked her hair away from her face, much like Riley did. "He was getting _really _annoying. Dumb asshole doesn't know when to quit…C'mon, let's get that wound patched up before you bleed to death." Izzy smirked at Jason's dumbfounded expression. He followed her nevertheless, clutching his bleeding shoulder.

Back at the infirmary, Isabelle cleaned and dressed Jason's shoulder. It was only one more scar that was going to come home with him from this place, but Jason didn't mind. When Izzy reached into her pocket for her switchblade to cut the gauze, she frowned as her fingers closed around nothing. "What the…? Where's my knife?" She wondered aloud, brow furrowing in confusion. Jason pulled the folded blade from his own pocket and she smiled. "You sneaky little bastard. Keep it, I've got a spare. You obviously need it more than I do."

Jason nodded in reply, cutting the gauze and then replacing the blade in his pocket. It was still red to the hilt, but the blood had dried. "Why, Izzy?" The dark-haired boy whispered hoarsely. He felt the urge to cough again, but swallowed and held it down.

"Why what? Why'd I save you from getting shot?" Izzy asked to clarify. Jason nodded and she continued, "Riley would have beaten me to death if she found out Dale had killed you, and I had let him. She made me promise to keep you alive while she was gone, and I don't break promises. Plus, she probably would have gone insane with despair if you really were dead. The only thing that kept her from doing that on her way over here was the hope that you were still alive because, you know, you can never confirm a person is dead until you see their corpse, right?"

The dark-haired boy smirked, chuckling silently to himself. Izzy really was something different. On the outside she was tough and sarcastic like Riley, but on the inside she was a sweet, caring fifteen-year old girl. The pair sat in silence until Izzy got up and announced, "I'll get you some lunch. You must be hungry after being chased down by a dog. I've never seen someone run so fast for so long." She left and came back a few minutes later with a can of sliced pineapples. After Jason had finished the can, he handed it back empty to Izzy.

"Wow, boys can sure eat a lot. It's a wonder you survived the stockade, considering your calorie intake must be twice that of mine…" The raven-haired girl commented, more to herself than Jason.

"How do you think…Riley's doing?" Jason asked, a string of coughs following his question.

Izzy shrugged. "She's been out there hunting for days on end, so a round trip to your place shouldn't be hard for her." A moment of silence passed, and the girl spoke up again, this time quieter. "She really loves you, you know. Riley, I mean. She told me so herself. Riley said, and I quote, 'If I get eaten by Infected on my way to Jackson County, tell Jason I love him.' End quote. I think it's romantic being reunited after such a long time. I can see why she likes you so much, too. You're not afraid to get your hands dirty, but you're kind, caring, and hot to boot. She's lucky."

Jason cocked an eyebrow at Izzy's confession. He had no idea why Izzy was telling him this now, if Riley wasn't dead. Maybe girls just couldn't resist the urge to gossip about juicy stuff like this? All he could manage was, "Seriously?"

"I'm not kidding! I can see the way she looks at you, like you're the most precious thing in the world to her. Bring her back to Jackson County when you get rescued; I'll be fine here without her. I'll follow eventually; I mean I can hold my own just as well as she can. I want to get out of this dump, anyway. All of us hate it here with Dale ruling us with an iron fist. Someone needs to do something about him, but we're all afraid." The raven-haired girl sighed, fiddling with her hair. Jason yawned and lay down on the bed.

"You're tired, so I'll let you catch up on your rest. God knows you deserve it. Dale's in the house across the street if you want to go punch him, or something. I'll be back at dinnertime." Izzy smiled and walked out of the house, whistling to herself.

Jason's weariness pulled him into a dreamless slumber, and when he woke up hours later, it was dark outside. Candles had been lit on the nightstands, casting tiny rays of light into the darkness. A plate of cold venison and canned peas sat on the bed next to Jason's. He ate it, thanking Izzy internally for the food, and then felt the cold metal of the switchblade in his pocket, rubbing against his thigh. Pulling the weapon out, he unfolded it and examined the blood-encrusted blade. Jason rubbed the flakes of dried blood off until it gleamed in the candlelight.

Jason turned the blade around in his hands, thinking about the day, about the torture Dale had put him through. Izzy's words echoed in the dark-haired boy's mind. _Someone needs to do something about him, but we're all afraid. _Jason wasn't afraid of Dale; his fear had turned to anger a while ago. He remembered that Izzy had told him where the man was. Folding and pocketing the knife, the dark-haired boy crept quietly out of the house, heading across the street.


	16. Lies

The morning after their little scrap, Ellie and Riley were no better friends with each other. Ellie had clammed up and refused to talk to the girl as they trotted along through the forest. The redhead rode behind Joel on the bay horse and Riley on Charlie, respectively. Joel had to admit he liked the quiet, but he knew the peace couldn't last forever. The clouds he could see through the canopy looked as unfriendly as the two girls were feeling towards each other.

Riley's mind was racing as she trotted behind Joel and Ellie. _"I hope Jason's not doing too badly with Dale. The bastard won't leave him alone. God, it's even taking a toll on me…I know he never liked Jason. Hell, he was one of the guys who were always trying to bring the military down…and me, too, I guess. It doesn't matter that I'm his-no, I can't say that anymore. Dale disowned me when I joined the army, and it's a miracle he hasn't killed me yet." _The blonde thought as she clenched her jaw. As tough and cold she appeared to be, inside she was just as vulnerable as everyone else. She was glad to get away from that lunatic. Dale was a violent man, and only kept his people in line through fear and threats. He never hesitated to act out those threats, either.

Guilt tugged at the back of Riley's mind at the thought of Dale's plan to hold Jason hostage, but she pushed it aside. Still, the nagging voice in her head leaked through her mental walls. _"Jackson County won't stand a chance. They'll have to cooperate once they've seen we've got one of their own. Now it's three. They can't refuse." _The girl growled mentally at the voice to shut up. _"Jason will hate you when he sees what you've done. Once Dale is ready and sends his message, Jason will be the first one to see-" _

"Shut up! Just _shut up_!" The blonde shouted to herself, holding her forehead with one hand and the reins in the other. The voice in her mind dissipated.

"I didn't say anything." Ellie spoke for the first time since waking up. As much as she didn't like Riley, the sudden outburst concerned her a tiny bit. "You're not a schizo, are you?" She asked warily, remembering the lessons on mental illnesses in the boarding school. They went through them quite thoroughly back in Boston, and it was the only useful piece of information the redhead remembered.

Riley picked her head up, surprised the other girl had spoken. Her sarcastic smirk instantly masked her face. "No, I'm not schizophrenic. I thought you weren't talking to me, ginger." She retorted in a snarky tone.

"Whatever you say, Riley." Ellie said in a sing-song voice. Joel was glad she hadn't started another verbal fight with the blonde.

The trio rode in silence until lunch, when they stopped for a brief meal. After everyone finished their various cans of fruit, it was back in the saddle.

After another hour riding in silence, Joel got tired of the almost palpable tension between the two girls. "So Riley, whereabouts did you come from?" The older man queried, in an effort to relieve the heavy silence.

"I came from Denver. My group and I came up here after the Quarantine Zone went to shit. Most of us died on the way, and it was only me and a couple others who survived." The blonde replied casually, glad to have something else to focus on other than her guilty thoughts.

Ellie raised an eyebrow at her answer. "You didn't know a guy named Jason, did you?" She asked hopefully, forgetting her anger.

Riley pursed her lips, thinking. Oh, she knew Jason alright. She wondered what had happened between the two of them, and jealousy reared its ugly head inside her mind. Of course she had entertained the possibility of Jason meeting another girl while they were separated, but she had expected someone…more impressive. "No. No, I didn't know anyone by that name." The blonde lied, keeping her tone level.

The redhead's shoulders visibly drooped. She reminded herself that Denver was a big city, so it was plausible that the two might have never come across each other. Something in Riley's uncharacteristically dull tone made her think otherwise, though. She decided to leave the subject be.

"Where did you guys come from?" The blonde asked in turn.

Joel answered before Ellie could. "Boston. We came from the QZ there." His voice was curt, and he wasn't going to tell her any more than that.

"Wow, that's an awfully long journey. You must be crazy people to go cross-country just for the hell of it like that. Chasing dreams, that sort of thing?" Riley chuckled mirthlessly. Dreams were of short supply these days, if not completely non-existent. Still, one of hers had managed to come true. She got Jason back. _"Yeah, but by next week you'll have lost him again." _The voice in her mind chided, but she ignored it.

"Sort of. We've had a much better life outside of the QZ than inside of it." Joel answered again. He heard the horse underneath him begin to breathe hard, and slowed to a walk. Riley copied him.

"Yeah, minus the Infected, the hostile bandit settlements, the days without food, and you've got yourself a walk in the park." The blonde drawled, earning a bark of emotionless laughter from Joel.

The trio walked their horses in silence once more, enjoying the quiet of the forest. The humidity made their hair and shirts stick to their bodies like wet glue, and the darkened forest made for creepy scenery. The gloom could have been hiding anything.

Riley yelped as someone yanked her off her horse. The stench of an unwashed body filled her nose, and she struggled to reach the switchblade in her pocket. She felt strong hands squeezing her throat, and gasped for breath, her lungs aching from lack of oxygen. Riley barely discerned that it was a man she was struggling against before gunshots rang out, and the man's body went limp on top of her. Shoving the corpse off of her, she noticed Ellie standing a few feet away, the barrel of her revolver smoking. A few other bodies lay dead around Joel, who was looting them for anything useful.

"I could have killed him myself, Ellie." The blonde said breathlessly, after taking a few gulps of much-needed air. She picked herself up and dusted herself off.

"You sure were taking your sweet-ass time. How about a 'Thanks, Ellie! You just saved my measly life'?" Ellie said in a poor imitation of Riley's voice. She crossed her arms over her chest.

"Not likely, ginger. C'mon, let's go before more of these assholes show up." Riley advised as she mounted up. Ellie and Joel did likewise and they picked up a canter, wanting to get as far away from the corpses as possible. Joel wouldn't have been surprised if Infected started bursting through the trees.

Fortunately, no such thing happened. No Clickers or Runners mauled them, and after a couple of miles they decided to slow to a walk again. Riley kept scolding herself for not paying more attention to her surroundings. She should have seen the bandits coming. Then again, Joel and Ellie were caught by surprise, too.

"…Thanks, Ellie. I'm glad you didn't decide to let the guy choke me to death." The blonde muttered, just loud enough for the redhead to hear. She didn't like to say it, but she was sincerely grateful that Ellie had enough compassion to not let her die.

"Don't mention it. Ever." The younger girl replied seriously. At least she now knew Riley didn't let her pride and attitude go to her head. It wasn't exactly the girl's one redeeming quality, but at least Riley could be described as somewhat sensible.

"Agreed. This doesn't mean I like you, though." The blonde clarified, tucking a strand of golden hair behind her ear.

"I know. Just for the record I still don't like you, either." Ellie responded in a conversational tone. Silence settled between them, but this time it was comfortable. The group rode until sunset, and the two girls seemed to tolerate each other more as they traveled. They even began chatting, although the sarcasm never left Riley's voice. They would exchange advice on how best to kill Clickers and Runners, and Riley was quite knowledgeable about how to go about ransacking a camp of bandits. Ellie had to admit, the blonde knew quite a lot when it came to tactics and strategies for attack.

"You were in the military, weren't you? Back in Denver?" The younger girl assumed as the trio set up camp for the night. It had started to drizzle, and they took shelter in a dense stand of pine trees.

Riley didn't answer for a moment. If she said yes, Ellie would immediately know that she lied about Jason. It's not that it was a bad thing that she was once in a relationship with him, but seeing Ellie as Jason's new girlfriend stirred up a whole host of emotions that didn't sit well with the blonde. She wanted to wait until the right time to rub it in the girl's face that Jason was hers and hers alone. She knew it was possessive behaviour, but after such a long time away from the boy, she didn't want to let him go. Riley reminded herself that the plan for Jackson County wouldn't help her keep Jason at all.

The blonde shook her head, more to get the negative thoughts out of it than as an answer to Ellie's question. "No, I wasn't. Girls…girls weren't allowed to be part of the army. It was only men." She muttered quietly.

"That's sexist. I mean, it's not like I would want to be in the army, but I guess even after the world goes to shit, men are still in charge, huh?" Ellie chuckled, throwing a glance at Joel. He rolled his eyes in return.

Riley yawned. "Boy, riding for the whole day sure makes a girl tired. I'm going to sleep." She announced, and went to untie her sleeping bag from the back of her saddle. She curled up in it, glad for the warmth it brought. Ellie did the same, but threw a suspicious glance at Riley. It was almost like she was avoiding something, but the redhead shrugged it off. By tomorrow night they would be back home and Ellie could get this mysterious girl off her back.

* * *

It had begun to rain when Jason strode up the front steps of Dale's house. He reached for the doorknob, but then thought twice about coming through the front door. _"One does not simply walk through the front door and murder someone…you've gone rusty, Jason." _The boy chuckled to himself and retracted his hand. Murder was an art reserved for the cold-hearted and violent. Not that Jason thought he was either of those things…maybe violent, but not cold-hearted. He was doing something helpful for the people of this settlement, even though he hated every one of them except for Izzy.

Once Jason was finished steeling himself, he walked around the house for an alternate way in. The rain muffled his footsteps, but also soaked through his ripped shirt and jeans, making him shiver. The faster he could get inside, the better. He spotted a first-floor window and smirked. Bingo.

The dark-haired boy looked through the cracked glass to see if anyone was inside, and noticed a few candles sitting on various pieces of furniture. Nobody appeared to be inside, though. He guessed that Dale must be sleeping further inside the house. Jason pried the window open and vaulted over the sill, crouching when he hit the wooden floor on the other side.

He froze for a few seconds, listening for any noises of alarm or voices. The house remained eerily silent, and Jason decided it was safe to look around. The first floor was much like the infirmary, except without the beds. Mismatched pieces of furniture littered the floor, and looked like they had once been part of a barricade. A hallway cut through the double staircase hugging the walls on both sides. Jason decided the check out the hallway first, and silently crept down it.

Inside the house, the rain seemed to amplify the boy's footsteps. The candles cast his shadow against the walls, making it quiver every time he passed by and made the flame flicker. He started whenever that happened, and cursed himself for being afraid of his own shadow. Every one of Jason's senses was working on overdrive, making him jump at every creak and groan of the house. Once at the end of the hallway, Jason realized that there was only the kitchen to his right and the living room to his left. A ripped up leather couch stood in the middle of the latter, and the cabinets that once stood against the wall had been tipped over. The flat-screen television had a large crack running diagonally across its glass front. Seeing that no one was there, Jason turned to the kitchen.

Despite the mold on the rotted wood and ivy creeping through the kitchen window, Jason could imagine what the kitchen must have looked like before the infection. Steel appliances sat against the wall, dented and unusable. Mahogany cabinets and black granite countertops stood between them. An island sat in the middle of the room, with a row of lamps hanging above them, now half-pulled out of their sockets in the ceiling. Finding nothing of interest, Jason moved back along the hallway and up the stairs.

He was lucky the stairs were marble and not wood, but his wet boots still made a slapping noise every time the dark-haired boy picked his foot up. Once he got to the double doors at the top, he gently pushed it open, cringing as it creaked loudly in the silence of the house. There weren't any candles up here, so he had to let his eyes adjust to the darkness.

Jason had ended up in a hallway, with numerous doors on each side. There must have been a dozen of them, he determined. He listened for any signs of life, but the house remained silent, unwilling to give up its secrets. The boy sighed through his nose and decided to go through each room in turn, starting at one end. The switchblade in his pocket felt heavy, as if reluctant to be used as a tool of murder.

The boy found nothing in the first five doors, merely empty bedrooms with four-poster beds and no signs of life. When he got to the sixth door, he discovered a bathroom. The shattered window let the rain in, soaking the shredded curtain and making a puddle on the floor. Jason caught a flicker of movement out of the corner of his eye, and pulled his switchblade out. A few bats eyed him curiously from their place hanging from the shower curtain rod, now devoid of a curtain. Letting out a long breath of relief, Jason exited the bathroom.

Once his pounding heart calmed down, the boy continued searching the rooms. He heard an unfamiliar noise behind the door of the eighth room, and the hair on the back of his neck stood up. Cautiously opening the door, he smiled in triumph as he found his enemy, snoring as he slept on the bed. Jason silently approached, unfolding his switchblade.

Dale looked just as ugly and stupid awake as he did asleep. The boy felt his anger towards the man bubble up inside of him, yearning to get out so he could exact his revenge. However, as with most moral people, his conscience piped up before he could drive the blade into Dale's throat.

"_If you kill him, you'll be just as bad as he was. No one deserves to be murdered in their sleep. It's not fair…it's cruel, ruthless, and you'll have to live with the fact that you killed a man in cold blood for the rest of your life. Is that what you want?" _The voice in Jason's mind spoke, and he shook his head to get rid of it.

"_Dale deserves to die. He scarred me for life, and he's no better than an animal. It'll be a favor to the rest of the people who live here, anyway. They have enough problems without this bastard breathing down their necks." _Jason reasoned with his conscience. His hand began to shake from gripping the hilt of his knife so hard.

"Do it, kid. I know you want to." Dale chuckled, making Jason recoil in surprise. The man had woken up during the boy's mental battle with himself. "It'll be easy. I'm unarmed and defenseless. All you have to do is stick that blade in my throat and your problems will be solved. Or will they?" The smirk on Dale's face appeared, only making Jason angrier. He just realized now that it was exactly the same as Riley's.

The black-haired man grabbed Jason's hand with the knife and held it against his throat. "Kill me, Jason. I'm a cold, heartless murderer that needs to be eradicated. You'd be doing a great deed to the people of this settlement." The man purred, but Jason yanked his hand away. Dale chuckled mirthlessly. "I expected as much. They didn't teach you to kill defenceless people back in Denver, did they? It wasn't part of the 'soldier's code', huh?"

The dark-haired boy hissed in response. _"What do you know about morals, you bastard? You don't have any!" _He wanted to yell, but he couldn't.

"Riley was the same way. She wouldn't kill the defenceless, either. She had plenty of opportunities to do me in, but she didn't. I guess she has something against murdering family." The black-haired man said, relishing the confused look on Jason's face. "She didn't tell you? I'm her father."

"No. That's not true. Her parents are dead." Jason hoarsely whispered. His hand had begun shaking again, this time from shock. He had known Riley for years, and she had told him herself that her parents were dead. Dale was lying to him.

"Well, when you disown your daughter, you might as well be dead to her. I did just that when she signed up with the army. It didn't matter if it was mandatory. I hated those uniformed bastards, and everything they stood for. Cruelty, totalitarianism, the _law_. There ain't no laws anymore, kid. They just wanted to make you think you were doing something right, when all you did was kill the innocent and reap the rewards. Tell me, how many people did you kill? Do you remember their faces when you sleep at night?" Dale's expression was contemplative as he looked Jason in the eye.

A feral snarl escaped the boy's lips. Dale smirked. "You still defend your precious military? Let me tell you something, kid. Do you know why these people obey me?" Jason shook his head. "I killed the man who used to lead them, right in front of their eyes. I took his place. The same thing will happen with your town. Riley's already half-way there, and by tomorrow night she will be right in the heart of the enemy camp. Once I arrive with my little army and you, she will already have the leader of the town hostage, and then we'll trade him for you. We execute the leader, take over, and it will all be thanks to _you_. Brilliant, isn't it? Father and daughter, working together to bring prosperity to our people." There was a hint of false pride in his voice.

Jason was in shock. He didn't know what to believe. It felt like his whole world had just come crashing down. "You monster! Fucking parasite!" He hissed angrily. The boy's heart was racing, and his head ached. He felt sick.

Dale registered the shock on the boy's face. "This must be hard to hear. I bet you thought Riley was the sweet girl who was always loyal to you. Her _lover_." He spat the word, as if it tasted bitter in his mouth. "Tell me, do you _really_ think she would put her boyfriend before her father and people? You're just a pawn in our little game. Once we're finished, she'll dump you like the white trash you are."

"That's not true!" Jason tried to yell, but it only came out as a feeble whisper. His mind was spinning, and he dropped his switchblade. It clattered to the wooden floor, and Dale stepped on it before he could pick it up again. Dale kicked the boy so that he was on his knees.

"Now, just so you won't try anything stupid, I'll have to restrain you until we get to your town. Get ready for a long march, kid." The black-haired man sneered as he kicked Jason in the head. The boy moaned in pain, seeing stars. Dale grabbed an old lamp and brought it down on Jason's head, knocking him unconscious.

Dale grabbed a backpack of supplies from a chair in the corner of the room. He fished around for some rope, and bound the boy's hands and feet. He hoisted the unconscious teenager over one shoulder and the backpack over the other. Once downstairs, the man grabbed an old bugle that lay by the door. He went outside and blew the instrument three times, sending out three separate notes. People filed out from the houses, gathering around his front steps.

"Prepare yourselves! Tonight we march west! In two days' time, we raid Jackson County and take it for ourselves!" Dale boomed, and the people cheered. They scattered to their respective houses, and quickly packed their meager belongings. They formed a column in front of the gate, a great mass of brown, black, and gray. The dozens of people seemed excited that they were going on a raid, and chatted animatedly with each other. They slung their rifles and bows across their backs, and marched out of the settlement as one. All but one joined in the chatter of the bandits. Isabelle hung back at the very end of the column, dread rising within her.


	17. Alternatives

**A/N: This chapter is Riley-centric, so for those of you who don't like her, you might be in for a surprise. She's not as mean and bitchy as you think! Enjoy!**

When morning came, Riley, Joel, and Ellie packed up their supplies and mounted their horses. From what Joel determined, they were about a couple of miles from Jackson County. It had taken them longer than expected, but that was because of the rain from last night. The rainstorm had created mist in the early morning sunshine, blanketing the mossy ground in white mist. Sunlight pierced through the canopy, illuminating the leaves from above and the mist on the forest floor.

"How far away are we from Jackson?" Riley queried after a few minutes riding behind Ellie and Joel. She sounded anxious, which Ellie thought was strange for someone so confidant and cocky.

"About two or three miles. We're almost there. Why are you so eager to get to Jackson County, anyway?" Joel answered, his tone skeptical. He shifted in the saddle to throw a glance at Riley.

The blonde bit her lip. "No reason…It's just that I like civilization better than roughing it in the woods. Plus, I'm waiting for someone there. I have that message to deliver, remember?" She spoke quickly, and her voice had a twinge of nervousness in it. _"Stop it, Rye Bread. You're going to give yourself away." _She scolded herself, and took a deep breath to calm her nerves.

"I thought you said you were running an errand for your friend. Is the message the errand?" Ellie asked, narrowing her eyes at Riley. Something was going on with this girl, she could feel it.

"Yeah. Yeah, you see, my friend told me to deliver a message to the leader of Jackson County…something about a trade agreement. He said he would come in a couple of days to seal the deal and pick me up." Riley responded, letting out a silent sigh of relief. It wasn't a complete lie. Jason would be traded for Jackson County's leader, and then she would be reunited with the rest of her group. Then the leader would be executed and they would take Jackson County for themselves. It was a simple enough plan, but so many things could go wrong. _"I can't think like that…this will work, and my people will survive. The other place was going to shit, anyway. Too many Infected, water was too far away, and food was scarce." _The blonde reasoned with herself. This was the way things had to be.

"Seems fair enough. I know Tommy trades with other settlements. What I don't get is why your leader sent you and didn't come himself." Joel commented.

"_Because he's busy holding my boyfriend hostage? And he's also in the process of leading dozens of bandits straight to your town?" _Riley answered in her head. Instead she replied, "He's got his own problems. I'm his ambassador, if you will. I come and brief the settlement about the trading proposition, and then he comes and hammers out an agreement."

"That's quite the system you have going on there. Your leader must have a lot of faith in you." The older man said in admiration. He also thought that Riley must be quite the negotiator if she could be sent out on her own like this.

The trio came to the river and Riley got her first glimpse of Jackson County to the west. "That's some place you have there. It's beautiful." She remarked. As they crossed the shallow water, she could see the numerous sentries patrolling the wall that ran around the town. She was also looking for any weak points and the best side to attack from.

"Yeah, bandits tend to stay away from here since we're a lot bigger than we used to be. We also have a lot more people than any other settlement around here." Joel boasted proudly. It was all thanks to his little brother and his wife.

"_More people equal more chaos…and more soldiers." _Riley shrugged to herself. People were going to die in the battle to come, but they would eventually settle in to their new way of life. It wouldn't be that different, save for the dictatorship and oppression of the townspeople.

The trio rode in silence until they came up to the gate of Jackson County. It looked even more formidable up close. Riley quickly determined there wasn't any chance of climbing the wall, due to the sheer size of it and the sentries. The only way in was through the gate. She made a mental note to tell Dale that they had to storm the gate in order to get in. It would make for a bloodbath on her side, unless the sentries could be taken out first…

"Is there any other way to get in? Do you have an alternate escape route?" The blonde questioned as sentries opened the gate for them. They threw suspicious looks at Riley, but Joel reassured them that she wasn't going to cause any harm.

"There are two other smaller gates on the south side and the east side. We don't really use them, though." Ellie said, dismounting her horse. Joel did likewise.

"Put your hands up. Who are you?" Riley was startled out of her thoughts as a blonde woman approached her, pointing a pistol in her direction. A man with sandy-brown hair followed her. The girl raised her hands in surrender.

"I'm Riley. I'm with Joel and Ellie. I come in peace, blah, blah, blah. Can you put the gun down, now?" The blonde girl answered in a bored tone. She sighed in an irritated manner.

Maria narrowed her eyes at Riley, but she holstered her pistol. "We don't take kindly to strangers, much less to those with an attitude problem. Where'd you find her, Joel?" The woman asked her brother-in-law.

"She found us, actually. We were out looking for Jason when she just showed up at our campsite. Riley's come on official business, for a trade agreement with us. We'll get to that later, though. Right now we need some rest and relaxation." Joel replied, stifling a yawn.

"Ellie, you can go take care of the horses. I'll have a little chat with Riley." Tommy said, taking the girl aside. Riley glanced from Joel to Tommy, and the former nodded. She let the light-haired man her to his office and closed the door behind him. "My name's Tommy. I run things around here with my wife Maria, the woman who pointed a gun in your face. Now tell me why you're really here." He narrowed his eyes at the girl, and sat down at a desk in the middle of the room. He motioned for her to sit, but she remained standing, leaning against the door frame.

"Joel wasn't lying. I came here to offer a trade. I know where Jason is." The blonde said casually, inspecting her dirty fingernails. She began to pick the dirt out from underneath them.

"What makes you think I should believe you? He never mentioned anyone named Riley. That boy has been missing for over a week now, and the only thing that showed up was his horse. Search parties have come up with nothing." Tommy's voice remained level, and his expression blank. He laced his fingers together, like he was a principal and Riley his delinquent student.

"Pixie came back? She was always a smart little mare. Let me show you something." Riley smirked as she stripped off her camouflage jacket, and rolled up the left sleeve of the purple sweater underneath. She showed Tommy her military tattoo. "See this? I'm from Denver, I was in the army there, and Jason and I were in the same squad: No. 25. Is that enough proof for you, old man?" Riley said curtly as she rolled her sleeve back down.

Tommy sat back, furrowing his brow. After a moment of silence he spoke again. "Alright, so you know Jason. That doesn't explain to me how you know where he is."

"My group was the one who kidnapped him. We were going to kill him, but my father and I thought of a much better idea. As I said, we want to offer a trade: Jason for you. You'll get him back without a scratch." At this point Riley strode over, and was now leaning on the desk with both hands. Despite her thin frame, Tommy noticed how the muscles in her shoulders swelled underneath her sweater, and the cold, intimidating look in her icy blue eyes.

Tommy let out a bark of laughter. The blonde raised an eyebrow, clearly not expecting his reaction. Her serious expression turned to one of annoyance. "You must be stupider than you look if you think I'll agree to that." The man smirked after he had calmed down.

"Are you saying that you value your life over Jason's? Is he not important to you?" Riley snapped, her tone becoming angry. She let out a long breath to steady her voice.

"I think you misunderstood me, Riley. What I mean is I know exactly what's going to happen if I agree. Your father will kill me, Jason will die regardless, and you'll pillage and burn my town to the ground. That's the way you crooked bastards work. Don't think this isn't the first time someone has come to me with this proposition." Tommy shook his head, letting out another chuckle.

"Actually, we were thinking of preserving your town and moving in after you've been executed. You've built yourself a very nice town here, and my father would hate to see it go to waste." Riley retorted sarcastically, her previous anger disappearing.

"If you want to preserve this town, why not just move in without a fight? You don't have to kill me and reinstate your father to be able to start over here. We accept pockets of people all the time, as long as they aren't hostile." Tommy said gently, and Riley's expression softened.

"What do you mean? You would just…accept us? There are three dozen of my people; I don't think you have enough room to fit all of them. Plus, they're just as hostile as my father, and my father would certainly not-" Riley ranted, and Tommy put up a hand to stop her.

"It's all you've ever known, isn't it? Fight to survive, or die trying? It's all we've ever known since the outbreak…But look at this town, Riley." Tommy motioned his hand towards the window behind him. "We are over one hundred strong and there are more people coming all the time. This place is a safe haven. Almost all of them were people like you: thinking they had to kill to live in peace, and raid other settlements to ensure their survival. This town is an example of how it doesn't have to be that way. We work together to grow food, take care of each other, and live each day to the fullest. Isn't that what you want for your people? Peace and safety?" Tommy said in a firm, but soft tone. He crossed his arms over his chest, waiting for Riley's reaction.

The blonde stared longingly out the window. People milled about, going through their daily routines. She felt something stir within her, something that she hadn't felt in a long time: peace. "I do want my people to live in peace. I don't want to live in fear anymore, but I have no choice. Unless you give yourself up when my father comes in two days' time, Jason will die and there will be blood spilled in the streets. You have to believe me when I say my father is mad. He _will not stop._" Desperation laced Riley's tone, and she bit her lip. Her knuckles were white from gripping the desk so hard. Pain gripped her heart like a vice, and she let out a dry sob. She couldn't lose Jason after all they had been through.

"Do you love your father?" Tommy questioned, reaching out to put a hand over Riley's. She flinched at the contact, as if he had burned her.

Riley remained silent for a moment. "He disowned me when I was fourteen. He beat me, and whipped me when he got the chance. He killed my friends in bombing raids on the military. He hurt Jason, and rules my people through fear…no, I have nothing but hate for the man. He's not my father anymore." She said contemptuously, her voice shaking. She worked her hands, trying hard to keep the tears back.

Tommy nodded, and dread filled him. There was only one solution now. "Then in order for your people and mine to survive, the man must be brought down. He has to be killed." His tone was neutral, masking the heaviness of his heart.

The blonde bit her lip hard, drawing blood. The metallic taste filled her mouth. "So much for not killing to live in peace. I'll do it…I'll kill my father. I'm the only one who can." Riley's voice broke, and a single tear made its way down her cheek. She didn't want to kill her father, but it now seemed like the only way to save dozens of lives from being cut short because of his violent methods. The strain and stress felt like it was tearing her apart from the inside.

Another tear followed the first one, and the girl collapsed into a chair. Soon she was sobbing, arms folded and her head down on the desk. Years of bottled up resentment, guilt, regret, and dread for the days to come broke through her mental walls like a tidal wave. Tommy came over and comfortingly rubbed her back. She didn't flinch away, and Riley cried for a full ten minutes before calming down to mere sniffles.

"Feel better?" The light-haired man smiled at the girl, and she returned it with a watery one. Her dirty face was streaked with tears and it was blotched with red, but she didn't care. Riley felt lighter after having lifted some of her burden, and took a deep breath to calm herself.

"I'll be alright. Thanks, Tommy. You saved yourself a bloodbath." Some of the blonde's sarcasm had returned, and the man chuckled.

"Your people will be safe here, including Jason. You have my word. Let's get you some proper food and get cleaned up, huh? You can stay with us, if you like. Maria won't mind having some help around the house." Tommy offered, opening the door for the two of them.

"I'd like that. I'm not much good at housework, though. I'm more of an outdoors person." Riley responded, matching her pace with the man as they made their way to the exit.

"Don't worry about it; Maria will be glad to teach you. If you're looking for outdoors work, Ellie and Shane could use a hand in the barn." The light-haired man said as they walked back out into the sunshine and down the street. Riley gazed in wonder at the numerous streets, cottages, and two-floor houses. She had underestimated the sheer size of the town from the outside.

"Shane? Shane will be glad to see me, I think. He always thought of me as his daughter back in Denver…He was practically my second father, the way I see it. He always joked about me and Jason being as inseparable as Siamese twins. He said if I were to get married to Jason one day, he would be proud to give me away. I know that sounds kind of weird since he's Jason's father, but seeing as my own would rather kill me than see me get married, he promised he would." Riley got a distant look in her eyes, reminiscing about younger days. Love and marriage seemed like an impossible dream these days, but even so it was quite a few years off. She had no idea if she would survive that long, but if she could stay here it seemed like more of a possibility.

Tommy cocked his head at her story. "You really have more going on with that boy than you let on. It's great to see young love in such a bleak world, but does Ellie know? She's involved with Jason too, you know."

The sting of jealousy made Riley wince. "I know…Jason made that very clear, himself. He's going to have to choose one of us, though. We'll cross that bridge when we come to it. Besides, Ellie doesn't even know that I know Jason. It'll be a real slap in the face when the truth comes out." The blonde giggled, her dislike for Ellie showing through. She tolerated the redhead more now, but she was far from friends with her. Where Jason is involved, Riley could be downright nasty towards any girl who gets within five feet of him. She didn't try to hide that fact.

The light-haired man sighed. He shook his head morosely. "I feel sorry for Ellie now. Jason was a real light in her world. To have that taken away from her would break her heart. I'm not saying you should give the boy up, but I don't think you would be inclined to share your boyfriend, either." They had arrived at Tommy's house, and the man showed her inside.

Riley admired the modern-looking house, letting out a low whistle of appreciation. "To put it kindly, I would sooner tear the girl apart than let her be with Jason. You have quite the set-up here. I like the décor." She answered, plopping herself on the stitched-up leather couch.

"I'm glad you're so protective of the boy." Tommy said blandly, and then pointed at the girl's dirty boots. "Maria will kill you if you dirty her furniture with those boots of yours. Leave them by the door." He demanded in a firmer voice. Riley shrugged and untied her boots, setting them neatly by the coat rack.

The light-haired man tossed the girl an apple, and she caught it in mid-air. "I doubt you've had fruit in a while. That should keep you going until I get lunch ready. Maria should be back in half-an-hour or so. Eat up, and then go wash." He instructed as he searched for a pot in the cupboards beneath the countertop.

Riley took a bite of the apple, savouring the sweet taste in her mouth. "You know, we had apple trees where I came from. Pears, too." She said between mouthfuls. Once she was finished, Tommy showed her to the bathroom. Riley wondered where the buckets of water were. She decided to voice her concern. "Uh, I don't see any buckets…how am I supposed to wash without water?"

Tommy snickered. "We have electricity here. That means running water and working appliances. I don't have to tell you how to take a shower, do I?" He asked half-seriously, eying Riley warily.

The blonde waved him off. "I can figure it out. That's so cool, having running water and stuff in the middle of nowhere. I haven't seen that since Denver."

"We run a hydro-electric dam a mile or so away from here. That's how we generate electricity. Now don't take too long, lunch will be ready soon." The man said, and closed the door behind him.

Riley pulled back the shower curtain and inspected the showerhead and bathtub curiously. There were two knobs on the wall, right above the faucet for the bathtub. One was blue and the other was red. She pulled the blue knob experimentally, and yelped as cold water sprayed onto her head. Shaking the wetness away from her eyes, she turned the red knob and the water became warmer. Riley undressed and hopped in the shower, scrubbing the dirt and grime from her body with soap from a wire shelf beneath the shower head. It smelled like roses. Being clean felt great. Once every bit of dirt was washed from her body, the blonde dried herself off with a towel and used one of Maria's combs to get the knots out of her wet hair. She pulled fresh clothes out of her backpack and put them on, shoving her dirty ones back in.

The blonde stepped out of the bathroom just as she heard Tommy calling her from down the hall. She padded down the wood-floor corridor, her hair still dripping with water. It left a trail of droplets as she walked into the dining room. Maria was just setting a plate of sandwiches on the table. She glanced up as Riley entered the room.

"My husband told me you'd be staying with us. Why didn't you want to stay with Ellie and Joel?" Maria asked, eying the girl skeptically.

Riley shrugged. "Ellie and I aren't that great of friends…Besides, Tommy told me you could use some help around the house."

Maria sighed. "He's right. I don't even have time for cooking with all the work I have to do. I'll show you your room after lunch." The woman said as she copied her husband. Riley sat down at the table as well, throwing a grateful glance at Tommy.

"Thanks…You guys are really too kind to me. It's different." The blonde girl smiled as she bit into a sandwich. Cucumber crunched under her teeth, and she tasted tomato, butter, and ham.

"It's the least we could do. We're a bit cautious, but we're kind to those who don't have a home of their own." The light-haired man said as he swallowed a piece of his own sandwich. The trio ate in silence until they were finished, and Tommy washed the dishes. Maria led the girl upstairs to the guest bedroom.

The woman opened the door and let the girl inside. Her eyes widened at the simple beauty of the room. A bed stood in the corner, its white sheets pressed to perfection against the mattress. The walls were painted a light sea foam colour, and a dented, steel desk sat in front of the window. A wooden bookshelf sat against the wall opposite the bed, with a few books lining the shelves. Thin, white curtains swayed in the gentle breeze coming through the open window.

"Wow…I get to sleep here? It's really pretty. Thanks, Maria." Riley breathed, stepping through the door. She sat on the bed, bouncing up and down a few times.

"I painted the room, myself. I'm glad you approve. You can hang out here for a while or go to the barn to check on your horse. I'm sure Ellie has it taken care of, though. Jason taught her everything he knows about horses." The older woman commented, leaning against the door frame.

Riley's expression darkened at the mention of Jason. It quickly passed, but Maria took notice of it. "Tommy told me about you, Jason, and your predicament with your father." She started, but stopped as the girl gave her a disdainful glare.

"He told you? I guess you hate me now, huh?" The girl's tone was bitter, and she never stopped glaring at the woman.

"No, I don't. It's not your fault, Riley. Your father is the one to blame. He forces you to do these things that you don't want to do, and I get it. It's a vicious cycle." Maria explained gently, and went over to sit by the girl.

Riley didn't meet her eyes as she spoke. She gazed across the room, staring into nothingness. "Dale…my father convinced me that this was the only way to get our group to survive, to take over and conquer. Now that I see how you guys live, and the peace that it brings, I want it for my own people. My father won't go down without a fight. I don't want Jason to die…he's everything to me. I thought that…if I could make the trade, my father would leave us alone and we'd be together again." Her tone was soft, distant.

"You will be together with Jason again. As for your father, we'll all help bring him down. Your people aren't loyal to him, are they?" The blonde woman asked as if she already knew the answer. She placed a reassuring hand on the girl's shoulder.

Riley didn't need to think about that question before she answered it. "No, they hate him just as much as I do. They'll be glad to see him dead. I'll be glad to be the one who drives a knife into his heart, too. That man deserves to die after the pain he made me, Jason, and the rest of us go through." Her voice was steady, determined. The more she thought about it, the less remorse she felt for murdering her father. _"Funny how you can reason with death."_ The girl added as an afterthought.

Maria was silent for a moment. "No one deserves to die for being themselves, but some deserve to die for their actions. I'll leave you be, it looks like you need some rest. Feel free to explore if you like." She said, getting up from the bed. Riley thanked her again and lay down on the bed, sighing. The gentle swishing of the curtains in the breeze and the comforting softness of the mattress beneath her lulled the girl into a light sleep.


	18. Think Twice

When Riley awoke again, she felt much calmer and rested than she did before. Stretching her arms over her head, the girl briefly wondered how long she had been asleep. She glanced out the window and determined it was mid-afternoon. She had only been asleep for a couple of hours.

Riley looked around for something to occupy her time with until dinner, and spotted the dusty books on the shelf opposite her. Curious, she hopped out of bed and shuffled over to the bookshelf. She brushed the dust away from the spines and read their titles. _"The Great Gatsby…Gatsby? What's a 'Gatsby'? How to Kill a Mockingbird? I know how…you just shoot it. City of Bones…That sounds cool. Fifty Shades of Grey? What is that, for painters? I didn't even know there were that many shades of that colour." _Riley picked the book out from the shelf and opened it to a random page. She began reading and barely got passed a few sentences before nearly dropping the book.

"You dirty, dirty, thing. I'll have to visit you again when Jason's not around." The blonde said teasingly to herself as she replaced _Fifty Shades of Grey_. Finding none of the other books on the shelf particularly interesting, she walked downstairs, out of the house, and onto the street. It was time to go exploring.

The girl strolled along the streets of Jackson County, having no particular destination in mind. People paid her no attention since she was a stranger, so she was glad she didn't have to talk to anyone. The houses she passed were quite different from each other. Some had two floors, others had one. Some were painted, and front lawns, and gardens. Others were nothing more than shacks in her eyes, but there was one common theme that the habitants of each house shared: they all seemed happy. Riley smiled sadly to herself. She wished she could be that carefree, having nothing to worry about other than choosing the dinner menu or which shirt to wear for the day.

The blonde eventually ended up at a large, wooden building surrounded by paddocks with animals in them, mainly cows and horses. She spotted her chestnut gelding Charlie munching on hay with another horse she recognized as the bay Ellie and Joel had ridden. Riley entered the barn, and eyed the place with admiration. The garages her people had used to house horses were nothing compared to this building. She didn't have proper stalls, paddocks, or even a place to put tack.

"Like it? Jason and Shane worked their asses off to get this barn the way it is now." A voice startled Riley out of her thoughts, and she quickly came back to reality. Ellie was walking up to her with a straw broom in one hand. She smirked at the blonde's surprised expression.

"Yeah, it's really something. They did a good job. Do you work here, too?" Riley queried, leaning against a stall door. She yelped and jumped away as she felt something breathe hot air down her neck from the other side. She scowled at the animal inside, but relaxed when she realized it was a horse. A really _big _horse.

"That's Beauty, the plough horse. She likes new people. Yeah, I work here. I've been filling in for Jason ever since he got kidnapped…" Ellie went quiet, her expression growing sad for a moment. She quickly perked up, though. "You want to help? That's what you came here to do, right?"

"Uh, not really. I was just exploring and thought I'd check up on Charlie. Did he give you any trouble? He doesn't like strangers." The blonde said casually. She was slightly surprised that her tone contained more sincerity than she would have liked.

The redhead shrugged. "He tried to bite me, but it was nothing a couple smacks couldn't fix. So do you want to help or not? These stalls aren't going to clean themselves." She said as she grabbed a pitchfork that was leaning against the wall. Ellie handed it to Riley, who took it reluctantly. The younger girl fetched the wheelbarrow from the other end of the aisle and trundled it over to an open stall. "You know how to muck stalls, right?" She asked, imitating Riley's usual level of sarcasm.

Riley smirked and grabbed the pitchfork from the girl. "Do I know how to muck stalls? Ha ha, funny." She sneered and began sifting soiled straw from clean straw, dumping it into the wheelbarrow. Ellie rolled her eyes and fetched a spare pitchfork. She began cleaning the stall beside Riley's.

"Why do you have to be such a bitch all the time, Riley?" Ellie queried in an annoyed voice.

The blonde was silent for a moment. "If there weren't bars separating us, I'd punch you for that comment." She growled in response, chucking a clump of manure into the wheelbarrow.

"You know what I mean. If you're this negative to people all the time, how could you expect them to like you?" The younger girl said curtly. She was getting tired of Riley's sarcasm, but every front had something to hide behind it. It wasn't that she wanted to be better friends with Riley; in fact the girl couldn't wait to get rid of her. She at least deserved to know a little bit more about the blonde, though.

Riley thought about that question. People never asked her things like this before. Hell, they hardly talked to her at all because she was the tyrant's daughter. Izzy was the only one she was friends with, but that didn't mean she didn't care about the rest of them. "I'm not negative to _everyone_. Just the people I don't like…like you and anyone who tries to kill me. So mainly you." The girl said simply.

"I'm glad you think of me so highly." Ellie drawled sarcastically, pitching dirty straw into the wheelbarrow. She stopped as she heard heavy footsteps echo from down the aisle. She recognized them as Shane's and went to go greet him.

"Ellie, who are you talking to? Did Joel decide to put down that guitar of his and help us poor workers out?" Shane said gruffly as he ruffled the girl's hair. She giggled and batted his hand away.

"Not exactly. We had a new arrival in town this morning and she decided to help me." The redhead smiled. Riley cautiously crept out from the depths of the stall, leaning her pitchfork against the door. Shane looked exactly as she remembered him from a year and a half ago. The same ring of baldness capped the top of his head, and she remembered his strong arms crushing her in more than one affectionate bear-hug.

Shane was speechless for a moment as he laid eyes on the blonde. After a minute he managed to sputter, "R-Riley? Is that really you? My, you haven't changed a bit! C'mere, girl!" He exclaimed as he captured Riley in a rib-cracking hug. He released the girl after a few seconds, leaving her panting.

Ellie looked from the old man to the blonde. "Wait, you two know each other? Then that means…You know Jason! You fucking little liar, Riley!" She yelled, eyes narrowing angrily at the older girl.

"You gingers are so gullible. Of course I know Jason. No, I don't just know him, he's my _boyfriend_." Riley chuckled mirthlessly at the growing pain behind Ellie's eyes at the last word. "When he told me to relay a message to someone named Ellie, I was suspicious. Then I found out it was you he was talking so fondly about and I was downright disappointed that he ended up with someone of your…low caliber. It didn't seem worth it." She crossed her arms, throwing a condescending look at the redhead.

"Didn't seem worth it? Do you ever think of anyone other than yourself? He's just as important to me as he is to you, and vice versa. Were you even going to tell his family where he was? Or are you so selfish that you think it's not worth telling them, either? Where is Jason, Riley?" Ellie demanded, her voice dripping with venom. She pulled her switchblade out of her pocket. Unfolding the blade in a blink of an eye, she pointed it at the older girl.

Shane's eyes widened at the sight of the weapon, but Riley remained ignorant of it. "Now, now Ellie, there's no need for such drastic measures. Put the knife away and let's talk this out." The older man crooned, but the redhead refused. She approached the blonde, and Riley held her ground as the tip of Ellie's blade rested under her chin. Her green eyes were blazing with fury, while Riley's blue ones remained calm as the surface of an undisturbed lake.

"You heard the man. Put the knife away, Ellie." Riley echoed, a smirk playing on her lips. This made the redhead press the knife harder against the girl's throat, causing her to wince slightly.

"Tell us where Jason is, and I won't kill you." The younger girl's voice was terse and laced with malice. Riley knew she wasn't kidding this time.

Despite the switchblade at her neck, the blonde managed to chuckle lightly. "You'll see him soon enough. He should be here by tomorrow afternoon. If you'll excuse me, I have other things to attend to." She batted Ellie's hand away and strode off, hooking her thumbs in her front pockets like Jason did whenever he was lost in thought.

On the outside Riley appeared cool and collected, but inside her mind was in turmoil. She'd been called out before about her self-centered attitude, but it never had to do with Jason. Though the blonde would never admit it, it left her slightly shaken that someone actually had the guts to confront her about her behaviour regarding the dark-haired boy. It made her take a step back and think.

"_I'm really that selfish? I was going to tell Shane and Julie, but I guess that's not the point Ellie wanted to make. I guess she was right, though. I've been so caught up with my own motives and problems that I never stopped to think how this was affecting everyone else. I never should have left Blue Jay alone with my father…who knows what that bastard did to him by now…Damn and I didn't even care for a while how this was affecting Jason, himself. I left Jason behind and now I have to clean up the mess my father made. God, the things I put that boy through…" _Riley thought as she walked along, not bothering to see where she was going. She roughly shouldered past anyone she bumped into, too wrapped up in her own thoughts to apologize.

The blonde eventually came to a conclusion as she reached the front steps of what she recognized as Tommy's house. "I love you, Jason, but I don't deserve you." Riley muttered to herself as she sat down on the wooden steps. _"All that pain I put you through…just to have you back? I don't even think you'd want me back if you knew what was really going on. You'd want to kill me for it. But I'll make things right. I'll kill my father and get you back safe, so something like this never happens again." _She vowed, clenching her fists until her nails dug into her skin. Riley let out a deep sigh and stood up. At times like this, only one thing helped reduce her stress: shooting things. She checked inside the house for Tommy, but found he wasn't there. She wandered about town until she found the man performing an inventory check in the dining hall.

Tommy glanced up from the clipboard he was holding as he heard the girl approach. "Hey, Riley. What's up?" He asked as he set the clipboard down on one of the tables. The aroma of cooking meat wafted from the kitchen portion of the dining hall, and people were already lining up to get hold of some dinner for their families. Others sat at the tables around the pair, talking quietly amongst themselves.

"You have a shooting range around here, right? I feel like doing some target practice to get my mind off things." The blonde shrugged, and Tommy nodded in understanding. He handed the clipboard to one of the cooks in the kitchen and headed out the door with the girl.

As they strode along the dirt path towards the west side of Jackson County, Tommy broke the tense silence that had settled between them. "Is Ellie giving you a hard time?" The light-haired man guessed from the discomforted look on Riley's face.

"…Sort of. She got a little violent, but it was nothing I couldn't handle. That girl can't keep her temper in check. I guess I deserved it, though. I finally told her about Jason, and of course she flipped out. Do you have any bows and arrows? I don't like to waste bullets." The girl changed the uncomfortable topic, but Tommy didn't seem inclined to do so.

"There's blood on your neck. What did she do, exactly?" The man sounded slightly worried.

Riley felt her neck and a few flakes of dried blood fell away from the skin. "She pulled a knife on me. She was threatening to stab me if I didn't tell her where Jason was." Her tone was casual, as if it wasn't a big deal. To her, it wasn't. Tommy was a different story.

"That sounds like Ellie." The light-haired man chuckled dryly. His countenance became serious, however. "I'll have to talk to Joel about this. We don't allow weapons inside the town unless they're being used for the shooting range or the armory. Ellie's gotten herself in a spot of trouble." He said, running a hand through his hair.

"It was my fault, anyway. I was the one who provoked her; she just overreacted. It's no big deal, anyway. The girl has enough on her plate without you cracking down on her." Riley had no idea why she was sticking up for the redhead, but it felt like the right thing to do. They were both going a little crazy at the moment.

Tommy's mouth formed a thin line as he furrowed his brow. "I suppose you're right, but rules are rules. I'll let her off with a warning and let Joel deal with her. He's the only one that can get her to listen, anyway. Well, here we are. Pick your weapon, but keep an eye on the time. Dinner will be in a couple of hours. Have fun." He opened a low, wrought-iron gate that opened up into what used to be a large garden. The plants had been replaced with cardboard targets set equal intervals apart, and a few tables sat just inside the gate. One was for rifles, one for handguns, and another for assorted non-firearms. A smaller table was used for ammunition and arrows. Tommy bid the girl goodbye and let her be alone.

Riley was grateful no one else was in the shooting range. She ran a hand over the bows, picking up a sturdy, plastic hunting bow. She picked up a few arrows and began notching them, letting them fly and embed themselves in a hole-riddled target. The quiet coupled with the constant motion of her hands calmed the blonde down, taking her mind away from her present problems. She lost track of time, and the sun was starting to set by the time she realized how long she had been out there. Riley's arms ached from repeatedly shooting so many arrows, and the pain brought her back to reality. She retrieved her last arrow from a target and turned around to walk back to the tables of weapons. The blonde stopped in her tracks as she noticed a familiar redheaded figure standing by the gate.

"What are _you _doing here? How long have you been there?" Riley asked Ellie moodily, setting her bow and arrows down on their proper tables. She glared intimidatingly at the redhead.

"I came to tell you Tommy wants you back. He said you're missing dinner. I watched your last round…you're pretty damn accurate with those arrows. Better than me." The younger girl said, a note of sincerity in her voice. She seemed unfazed by the blonde's attempt to scare her off.

"No surprise there. We didn't just train with firearms back in Denver." Riley answered, sarcasm returning.

Ellie narrowed her eyes. "So you lied about being in the military, too, huh? You do seem to be a compulsive liar. I wonder if Jason knows-" The older girl cut her short.

"Don't talk to me about Blue Jay." Riley snapped, talking a deep breath to steady her rising temper. Ellie hit a sore spot, and she knew it.

"That's your nickname for him? What did he call you? You know, before he lost his voice. You must have known him before that happened." The redhead continued in a gentle tone. She wasn't trying to tick the girl off; she was merely curious about her relationship with Jason.

Riley bit her lip, wrapping her arms around her torso self-consciously. "It was more like code names…it was easier to distinguish between members that way. Jason called me Rye Bread." A ghost of a smile appeared on the girl's face, but it disappeared as quickly as it had come.

Ellie smirked and opened the gate for the blonde. "That's cute! I wish I had a nickname." She said as Riley walked alongside her.

"I already call you ginger. Isn't that good enough?" The blonde said curtly, letting Ellie lead her back to her house. The air was growing chillier in the falling darkness, and Riley pulled her jacket tighter around her shoulders.

The redhead rolled her eyes. "That's not a nickname, it's a derogatory label put on people with my hair colour. You know what? Nevermind about the nicknames. It's obvious you don't want to talk in a civilized manner with me." She quipped, picking up the pace. Riley easily matched it with her longer stride.

"What was your first clue? The sarcasm or the death glare?" The blonde replied, flicking her hair away from her face.

"I don't know…both? I'm trying to be nice, here. You're making it kind of difficult." Ellie muttered. She halted as they reached Tommy's house. The lights were on in the dining room and kitchen, casting a warm yellow glow on the pair.

"Let's get one thing straight: as long as Jason is still my boyfriend, we will never be friends. Plus, I'm not the kind of person you'd want to be friends with. We just don't mix. Got that?" Riley said in a clipped tone, raising one eyebrow expectantly.

The younger girl nodded, a frown tugging at the corners of her mouth. "Yeah, I got that message loud and clear the first time you showed up at our campfire. I'm beginning to think Jason picked the rotten apple of the bunch when you were busy shooting innocent civilians back in Denver." Ellie spat, turning on her heel and walking off into the twilight.

The redhead didn't see the look of hurt on Riley's face as she stalked off, leaving the girl standing there in the fading daylight. The blonde couldn't say anything back because she knew every word Ellie had said was true. She was rotten…but she didn't have to stay that way. Riley sighed and headed inside the house, eager to get away from the cold.


	19. Set it Free

**A/N: This will be the final chapter of No Sound, Please, except for the epilogue. I don't really count epilogues as part of the main story since they are optional. Anyway, it's been an awesome journey writing this fic, and I will miss it. I'm sure you will, as well. I greatly appreciate all my reviewers, readers, favouriters, and followers. I hope this chapter doesn't disappoint and please enjoy this last chapter of No Sound, Please.**

Jason woke up with a weak moan. His head was aching, and he had trouble remembering the events of the past two days. Darkness enveloped him, except for the dying embers of a small fire off to his left. Trees stood tall and silent around the fire, and stars twinkled through the canopy. Jason vaguely remembered being forced to march at gunpoint after he had woken up the previous day, but it was all hazy. They had rested for a while, and then it was back to walking. The dark-haired boy didn't remember much, just trees, trees, and more trees.

The boy focused his eyes on his immediate surroundings. His wrists had been cut free and of course his legs were also mobile. There were a few men snoring as they slept around the fire, and Jason made sure they stayed asleep as he got up into a crouch. His legs felt like lead after walking for the whole day. He gauged the position of the moon above him and judged it was about four or five o'clock in the morning. The sky was beginning to lighten ever so slightly. Although he was exhausted, the boy knew this was his only chance to escape. The nearby rushing of a river reached his ears, and he remembered they were a couple of miles west from Jackson County. Dale had reminded his little army that they attack in the morning.

When Jason thought of Dale, he simultaneously thought of Riley. She had lied to him, betrayed his trust, and now she was off in Jackson County, probably holding Tommy hostage. Bitter anger at the both of them welled up inside him, but he pushed it back down. Losing his temper and waking up the guards wouldn't be a good idea right now.

The dark-haired boy crept around the sleeping members of Dale's militia, and had to incorporate all of his previous stealth training to keep from making a sound. He lithely jumped over any people he couldn't get around, and it occurred to him just how many people were in this group. He estimated about three of four dozen people in the little army, but this was small in comparison to Jackson County. Only in Jackson, a good percentage of the citizens were children, those who couldn't fight.

Jason reached the boundaries of the militia's camp, and knocked out any sentries that stood propped up against the trees. He was almost free when he heard a familiar sneering voice that grated on his nerves.

"Going somewhere, boy?" Dale asked as Jason turned around, a hateful look on his face. If he had his switchblade on him, which he had unfortunately left behind at Dale's house, he would have stabbed the man in the heart then and there.

The boy instead slugged the black-haired man across the face a few times, hearing a satisfying crunch as his fist impacted with Dale's nose. The older man stumbled back with a yell, and Jason kicked him in the head as he hunched over, clutching his bleeding, broken nose. Dale fell sideways, but he wasn't unconscious. Jason took the moment of distraction to bolt, sprinting into the dark woods towards the sound of the river. He heard yells and the pounding of men's feet as they ran after him, but the boy soon heard them fade into the distance as he urged himself to run faster.

Jason vaulted over fallen, rotting logs and boulders, slipping a few times over the damp, mossy ground. He almost fell as he tripped over a tree root, but scrambled back onto his feet in seconds. It was merely the pounding of his heart in his ears, the loudening sound of the river, and his footsteps now. Owls hooted in the trees above him, and there were other animals of the night that called to each other beyond his field of vision, but Jason paid them no mind as he ran. Branches whipped past him and cut into his skin, sending stinging pains throughout his body.

When he reached the river bank, the dark-haired boy glanced around frantically for any sign of Jackson County. He felt exposed in the open, like a rabbit out of its hole. The river was a roiling mass of black in front of him, reflecting the moonlight here and there in the rapids. He could see faint spots of light in the distance, like a beacon beckoning to him in the darkness. Jason ran in that direction, knowing in the back of his mind that the sources of the lights were the giant floodlights turned on at night in Jackson County. He tripped and slipped on the wet rocks of the riverbank, but he never slowed his pace.

Jason reached the front gate of Jackson County, and knew that if he had to run any more his legs would give out. His muscles and lungs burned from exertion, and he stopped dead as the sentries pointed their guns at him.

"Who the hell are you? What do you want?" One of the sentries demanded, and Jason recognized the man's voice as his neighbour's from across the street. Their response to him confused the boy, but then he tried to look at himself from their perspective. His hair must have looked like a rat's nest from not being brushed for a week and sleeping on the ground for two days. The wild, desperate look in his eyes didn't help his case any, either. Jason's shirt was falling off his shoulder, exposing the dog bite mark. He wouldn't be surprised if it looked like an Infected had bitten him.

"It's Jason. Let me in." The dark-haired boy pleaded in a hoarse whisper, looking at the man and the other sentries. They shot each other wary looks, and Jason recognized another sentry as Maria. She was narrowing her eyes at him, looking as if she was trying to match his name to his scratched up face. "Maria, please!" The boy begged, gazing imploringly at her.

"Let him in." The blonde woman stated, and when the guards hesitated she barked, "Open the fucking gate!" The other men quickly scrambled to do as they were told. The gate creaked open and Jason rushed inside. He was immediately captured in someone's arms, and he realized Maria was hugging him.

"Oh my God, Jason, what the hell happened to you?" The blonde woman demanded as she released the boy. He cracked a tiny smile at her. The woman never hugged anyone unless she was extremely happy or relieved to see them.

"No time. They're coming." Jason choked out, panting hard. He rested his hands on his thighs, trying to catch his breath. Maria rubbed his back soothingly, and waited until he was breathing normally again.

"I know, a friend of yours came by this morning and told us about the little rag-tag group you have trailing behind you. Don't worry about them; it's the leader of that militia that we have to be concerned about. She said she would take care of him, though. I've got double the number of sentries on the walls and heavily armed guards patrolling inside and outside the perimeter. Tell me, what _happened to you_?" Maria took Jason by the shoulders, forcing him to look at her. Her eyes were full of a worry that he had never seen before.

"Dale tortured me. Riley lied. I escaped." Jason briefly summed up his experience, not wanting to damage his already burning vocal cords further. He walked with Maria to her house.

"I'm sorry. We tried everything we could to get you back, but you disappeared without a trace. On the other hand, Riley's quite the character, isn't she? She and Ellie hate each other, and Tommy and I talked her out of doing anything dangerous. They were both worried sick about you, you know. If you want, I can wake Riley up so you two can talk things out. She doesn't want things to end like Dale planned. She's also sorry for how things ended up." Maria explained as Jason sat down at the table. She poured him a glass of water and he gratefully gulped it down. His throat was as dry as sandpaper.

"Sorry? It was her idea, too." Jason spat, coughing a couple of times.

"I know, but you have to believe me when I say she's realized the error of her ways. Dale's people aren't loyal to him, and they won't fight if given the choice. Riley's not the one to be angry at, Jason. It's her father that made the poor girl the way she is. Familial bonds are always going to be stronger than hate. Riley hates her father and what he's done to you and her people." The blonde woman tried to convince the boy, but the look of skepticism remained on his face.

"I don't want to see her. Not now. I want to see my family and Ellie." Jason said between coughs, standing up and heading for the door.

Maria caught him by the shoulder. "Go clean up first. You look terrible." She said bluntly, steering the boy towards the bathroom. After a few minutes, Jason looked like his old self again, his short fringe combed back and his scratched face clean of dried blood.

They walked down the familiar dirt path to his house, and Jason knocked on the door. It felt strange knocking on the door of his own house, but he wanted to surprise his parents without scaring the living daylights out of them by waking them up himself.

After a minute, Shane opened the door, groggily rubbing the sleep out of his eyes. He stared dumbly at the boy in front of him, blinking a few times. He couldn't tell if it was one of his dreams or if his lost son was actually standing on his porch. The older man reached out and cupped the boy's cheek. His cheekbones were a bit more prominent than he last remembered, and Jason's exposed collarbone stuck out more than usual.

"Jason? Are you really here?" Shane wondered aloud, still convinced he was dreaming. Jason furrowed his brow, but nodded. His father stared at him with shimmering eyes for a moment longer, and then embraced his son tightly, sobbing in relief. Jason was as tall as his father, and hugged the man back just as tightly. The boy noticed another shape materializing from the dark depths of the house, and smiled at his mother.

The woman was dressed in a simple pink nightgown, stifling a yawn. Her long, dark brown hair tumbled down her back, and her brown eyes were laced with sleepiness. She stopped as she laid eyes on her husband and son standing on the porch. She signed the boy's name, cocking an eyebrow in question. Jason nodded in answer, and she ran over to the pair, throwing her arms around the boy's neck. After a few seconds, they broke apart. Jason noticed Maria was gone, but it didn't matter. Her work was done.

"I can't believe you're back. How did you escape?" Shane asked as he ushered the boy inside. He turned on the light in the kitchen, and blinked rapidly at the sudden brightness. The trio sat down at the table, and Jason explained his whole experience in sign language so they could both understand. Julia could lip-read, but it was too much to say for Jason's healing vocal cords.

After his son finished explaining, Shane's expression grew worried. "This man Dale is coming to take over, right now? Why aren't we out there fighting the mongrels? They probably have us surrounded by now!" He banged his fist on the table, standing up.

Julia forced her husband to sit down again. Jason shook his head. "They won't fight. This is Riley's battle." His whispering voice was uncertain, but Maria seemed pretty convinced the girl wanted to fight for them, not against them. He still wasn't sure.

"I see. Riley didn't say much about her father, and I don't even know the man. By the way, I'm glad to see you're using your voice again. What made you change from sign?" Shane queried, crossing his beefy arms.

"Riley's friend. She's pretty persuasive." Jason said with a small smile. "We'll see what Riley does. I want to go see Ellie." He stood up and his father gave him a knowing smile as he left the house.

Jason contemplated the ways he could surprise Ellie, and he certainly didn't want to face Joel if he could avoid it. The man would probably beat him to a pulp for making his daughter worry so much. Jason settled on crawling through Ellie's bedroom window, and did so without a sound. The wooden floorboards creaked as he landed on the other side, and he froze as he noticed a shape move in the bed. The boy caught a flash of red hair and smiled.

Silently standing up, Jason crossed the small room in a couple of steps and sat on the edge of the bed, gazing down at Ellie's peaceful, sleeping face. He hated to wake her up, but it was necessary. Moonlight bathed the room in a ghostly blue-white light, and Jason tucked a strand of hair behind Ellie's ear. She shifted in her sleep, a small smile playing on her lips.

"Ellie. Ellie, wake up." The boy gently shook the redhead's shoulder, and her brow furrowed.

"It's the middle of the night, Joel…" Ellie groaned, still asleep. Jason chuckled quietly. She probably mistook the hoarseness of his voice as Joel's gruff tone. It was the only thing she could relate it to, since she had never actually heard Jason's voice before.

"Ellie, wake up. It's me, Jason." The dark-haired boy shook her shoulder again, and the girl's green eyes fluttered open. They rested on him, and she scrunched her brow in confusion.

"Wha-? Seriously?" The young girl asked, yawning. The boy's figure was half-bathed in moonlight, making him look surreal, like something out of a fairytale. She stared at him, trying to decide if this was real or not. Jason smirked as he reached out to stroke her cheek with the back of his hand.

"I'm here. You're not dreaming." The boy whispered, cupping the girl's cheek. He didn't expect what was coming next. Ellie suddenly threw herself at him, flinging her arms around his neck. As gravity pulled her back down, she brought Jason down with her. Ellie pressed her lips to his, putting all of her relief, joy, and passion into the kiss. Jason made a noise of surprise in his throat at the redhead's sudden vigour, but smiled against her lips as he kissed her back. He cupped her face in his hands and she ran her fingers through his hair, sending shivers down his spine at her touch. They broke apart for air after a few seconds, panting.

"Glad you're happy." Jason chuckled as he rested his forehead against Ellie's, looking deep into her eyes. They were filled with nothing but joy.

"I don't care what Riley says. You're mine." The red-haired girl purred, pecking his lips again. Jason smiled, and he gave a light laugh. His expression became serious, however, as he sat up. Ellie did the same, giving him a concerned look. "You still care about her, don't you?" She guessed, and he nodded.

"Riley's important to me, and always will be. You are, too. I just…have to figure things out." He whispered hoarsely, taking her hand in his.

"Choosing between girlfriends is tough, huh? You don't want to let go of your past, but you've become attached to the present." Ellie giggled, giving his hand a gentle squeeze. Her face was flushed in the half-darkness, but was gradually returning to its normal colour. It turned pale as the distant sound of gunshots reached their ears. "Jason…what was that? We haven't had bandits come along in weeks…"

"These aren't bandits. They've come for me and Riley. Get your gun." Jason ordered as he stood up, making it to the door in less than four steps. Ellie threw him a perplexed look, but dug her revolver out from her backpack nevertheless.

"They've come for you and Riley? What the hell are you talking about?" The redhead asked as she loaded her weapon and shoved extra ammo in her pocket. She was still wearing her jeans, having been too tired from mulling over her conversations with Riley to change when she went to bed. Ellie's voice had now risen from a whisper to a fraction over her normal volume, enough to wake Joel up. The man shuffled out of his room, and did a double-take as he came face-to-face with Jason.

"Jason, what in God's name are you doing here?" Joel demanded angrily, but became even angrier as he noticed the boy had come out of Ellie's room, his hair was messed up, and Ellie followed in the boy's wake.

"No time. Get your gun, Joel." Jason said curtly as he shouldered past the man in the narrow hallway. Joel looked in no condition for fighting, however. He was in his gray sweatpants and torn white t-shirt.

Joel gave the boy a glare. He didn't like being told what to do by people half his age, unless they were Ellie. "Since when do you talk? What makes you think-?" He started, but was cut off by Ellie's shout.

"Do what he says, Dad! We've got trouble!" The young girl snapped as Jason passed Joel his rifle. The man caught it and went back into his room to get extra ammunition for the weapon. The trio walked quickly out the front door, Jason in the lead. They heard more gunshots, and Joel didn't question the boy further as they headed towards the front gate. People came out of their houses in their nightwear, confused and concerned expressions on their faces. Bandit or Infected attacks weren't uncommon, but the time of night was unusual, even for an attack. Jason glanced to the east and saw that the sun was beginning to rise. It cast it yellow rays across the horizon, bathing the tops of the trees in gold.

"Are you sure you don't have anything to do with this, Jason? You did seem like you were expecting these bastards." Joel drawled as the exchange of gunshots along the north wall became more frequent. Jason swore under his breath, suddenly realizing he had no weapon of his own.

"I haven't got a gun. Any place I could get one?" The boy asked instead of dignifying Joel's comment with an equally sarcastic response.

"You could get one at the armory, but they're probably handing guns out at the front gate. C'mon, I'll take you." Ellie said as she made to jog with the boy, but Joel held her back.

"You're not straying out of my sight. We'll get there when we get there." The older man ordered curtly, not letting go of Ellie's wrist. She didn't try to struggle out of his grip. They strode in silence to the front gate, and all the while Jason could only wonder one thing: where was Riley in all of this?

When they reached the front gate, they were greeted by an anxious Tommy. Noticing Jason, he clapped the boy on the back and gave him an extra shotgun. "Good to see you, Jason. I wish I could be happier at the moment, but unfortunately we have some undesirables trying to get in. Dale isn't taking no for an answer. He hasn't shown himself, though, the fucking coward." Tommy briefed the boy, and Jason sighed through his nose as he cocked his shotgun. Joel's younger brother handed him a dozen extra bullets, and the boy shoved them in his pocket.

"Where's Riley?" Jason queried, and Tommy shrugged.

"Haven't seen her since this afternoon. Sorry kiddo, I can't help you there. You three feel free to join the guys on the wall or on foot. All of those assholes are hiding in the forest." The light-haired man said, and then turned to the sentries on the wall. "Keep at it, boys! Don't let them get through!" He shouted, grabbing his own sniper rifle and joining the fight.

Joel followed his brother and Ellie did likewise, but stopped to motion a hand to Jason. "Come on, they need our help! You heard Tommy!" She said, and Jason reluctantly followed her. They settled themselves against the wall, and began shooting. Jason began feeling queasy; he knew these people were innocent, and he was looking for a familiar raven-haired girl. Isabelle didn't need to die in this battle.

"Don't shoot Izzy. She's your age with black hair. She's my friend." Jason told Ellie and Joel amid the gunfire. They nodded in understanding. Sweat beaded on Jason's forehead, and he winced every time he shot at someone. He wondered where Riley was again. He knew she wouldn't want to shoot her own people, but hiding and doing nothing didn't seem like her.

After about ten minutes, and a few casualties on both sides, the trio noticed someone emerge from the forest holding a struggling captive. Jason immediately recognized the captor as Dale and the captive as Isabelle. He snarled angrily. Only Dale would stoop so low as to use one of his own as a hostage. The people on his side ceased shooting, as if this was planned.

"Don't shoot, or the innocent gets it!" The black-haired man boomed, and the gunfire from Jason's comrades died down. Izzy struggled against Dale's iron grip, her face white as the cold metal of his revolver pressed against her temple. "That's better! Now, if you don't want this pretty young thing to get her brains blasted out, get the person that runs this joint out here! I want a little chat!" A tense silence enveloped the compound, and nobody moved. The man seemed to expect this, however. He cocked the revolver, and the sharp click made Izzy whimper in fear. Tears began falling down her cheeks, and Jason felt his heart wrench. The girl didn't deserve to die, not like this.

"I said get the coward that runs this place-!" Dale was cut off as a sharp voice interrupted him.

"Let her go, Dale!" Riley yelled, and Jason looked around for the girl. He heard the thundering of hooves as he saw the blonde gallop out of the trees, her chestnut gelding's coat shimmering like fire as the sun hit it. Dale didn't have time to react as Izzy wrenched herself out of his grasp, and ran into the cover of the trees. Riley nocked an arrow and shot it straight at the man. It punctured his shoulder, piercing all the way through. The man screamed in pain, and blindly pulled the trigger of his gun in Riley's direction. She was still far enough away that she couldn't trample the man as she passed, and gave a yell as her horse suddenly collapsed underneath her in mid-stride. Charlie tumbled to the ground, blood spurting out of a hole it his forehead. The horse was dead before it hit the ground, trapping Riley underneath its side.

The blonde tried frantically to wriggle out from under the horse's side, but her left leg was stuck securely under it. Nothing hurt except for her arms, which had almost been torn out of their sockets as the horse had fallen head first onto the ground. Dale came over, clutching his profusely bleeding shoulder.

The muscled man chuckled lowly. "Stupid girl. You would dare defy your own father to save your friend? Why would you try to kill me?" His voice was sickly sweet, but Riley saw through it.

"I hate you! You're not my father! You're nothing but a fucking tyrant!" The blonde grit her teeth as she continued to struggle under the weight of the horse on her leg. It was situated so that the stirrup prevented her leg from being broken by the impact, but a slight change of pressure could change everything. At the moment, a growing pain in her ankle was becoming apparent.

"Ooh, that's harsh coming from my own daughter. You wanted to save your little boyfriend and his town, didn't you? You love Jason enough that you would kill your own father to keep him safe? I know you better than you think, Riley!" Dale's voice rose to a shout at his last two phrases. Riley's face flushed, and not from the fury she was feeling. Even now he still managed to embarrass her in public. The man placed a foot on the dead horse's side, leaning on it. Riley screamed as she felt the pain in her ankle become excruciating.

Jason ground his teeth, hating the feeling of helplessness that enveloped him at the moment. He couldn't just stand by and watch his best friend be murdered by her father. The man deserved nothing more than a shot at point blank, and that was exactly what Jason planned to give him. He got up and started down the stairs. The boy felt a hand on his shoulder, and turned to face Ellie. It seemed like she read his mind, because she handed him her revolver.

"Take this, and finish that bastard with a bang. It's full, so don't worry." The redhead smirked as she pecked Jason on the cheek. He smiled and nodded, heading out of the gate. The dark-haired boy fired a shot into the air, getting Riley and Dale's attention.

"Look who decided to join us! Jason, c'mere boy! Help me say goodbye to this little traitor of ours!" Dale said as he let up on the pressure he was putting on the horse's side. Riley gasped in relief, the pain in her ankle dying down somewhat. As much as he disliked what Riley had done, it hurt the dark-haired boy to see her in so much pain.

Jason walked up to the man and slugged him across the face with Ellie's handgun. He intended to enjoy torturing this man before he killed him. Dale's own handgun went flying out of his hand at the impact, and landed a couple feet away from where Riley lay writhing in pain. Jason shot the man in the foot, and he yelped.

"I see…I expected as much. Want to play before you kill me? We can do that." Dale chuckled between winces. What did it take to kill this man? Jason wondered as he shot the man in calf, getting a sadistic pleasure out of his agony. He stumbled back with a hiss as Dale punched him across the face. Riley screamed Jason's name, but he ignored it. The black-haired man smiled as he pulled a switchblade from his pocket and unfolded it. He held it high, aiming for Jason's heart, savouring his victory. "I told you I'd kill you, kid." He smiled in triumph, and brought the knife down.

Jason expected an excruciating pain in his chest, but instead he heard a simultaneous female scream along with two gunshots. He felt no pain except in his jaw where Dale had punched him, and glanced around in confusion. Dale lay dead a few feet away on his left, blood gushing from two holes in his skull. Riley was on her knees, clutching her bleeding side to his right. She dropped the revolver that she had been holding. He also noticed that Ellie had acquired another gun, and the barrel of her shotgun was smoking. Jason's more immediate concern was Riley, however.

The blonde fell on her side, the blood stain on her shirt growing larger by the second. Somehow Dale had managed to slice a deep gash in the girl's right side before he had been killed by her and Ellie. Jason pulled her head into his lap as she whimpered in pain, and pressed his hand against her wound to increase the pressure. "I'm sorry; I'm so sorry Blue Jay…" Riley sputtered, gasping for breath. He pressed his lips to hers in a silent thank you, and she gave him a small smile as he pulled away before cringing in agony again.

"You saved me…you saved everyone else, too. Hold on, Rye Bread, you're not food for Infected quite yet." Jason said as he noticed Tommy and Maria coming toward them. Ellie and Joel followed, concerned looks on their faces. Tommy hoisted Riley into his arms and Maria pressed a bundle of gauze to the girl's side. Jason made to follow, but didn't get much further than a few steps before collapsing onto all-fours. He felt faint, and his head was swimming.

"Hey, take it easy. We'll get you back." Ellie's soothing voice reached Jason's ears, and he felt Joel help him up, letting him lean on his shoulder. Everything was spinning around the boy, and he fell unconscious before they reached the gate.

* * *

When Jason woke up again, he was in the infirmary. He looked at the clock on the opposite wall and it proclaimed the time to be 3: 42. Daylight streamed in through the open door at the end of the aisle. It was still day time, but he had no idea how many days had passed, if any. He felt rested, but still weak. Riley smiled at him from the bed beside him, her face pale but happy. Half a dozen others lay on beds nearby, sleeping or chatting quietly with visitors and nurses alike.

"You've been out since this morning. They stitched me up alright, see?" The blonde lifted up the hem of her shirt to reveal a neat line of stitches running diagonally along the right side of her torso. Jason averted his eyes, but not because of the wound. Riley noticed his discomfort and lowered the shirt back down. "Sorry…uh, about everything really. I didn't want to lie to you, but I guess I put my people's safety above you, huh? Now that Dale's dead, Izzy tells me they want to go back home. It is nice here and all, but it's a little small. Tommy's having trouble finding housing for all of us. I think we'll just go back. Since I'm Dale's daughter, I'm the leader now, anyway. I think I'll do a lot better than that old bastard, don't you think?"

Jason nodded, feeling a little dizzy at the motion. He waited for it to pass, and then whispered, "I get it. I forgive you." Riley nodded in confirmation, smiling again.

"Thanks, it feels good to know that you don't hate me for what I did. By the way, Ellie came by a couple of times. We had a nice chat when you were off in dreamland, and she met Izzy. The two seem to get along quite well, more than she and I do. I guess it's expected, I mean we are kind of rivals because of you." Riley giggled, but winced as the movement irritated her side.

Jason furrowed his brow. "Don't fight over me…I love both of you, equally. Are you sure you can't stay?"

Riley closed her eyes for a moment, savouring his words. "Not the kind of love confession I expected, but it'll do. As I said before, Tommy doesn't have room. Not for this large of an influx of people, anyway. My people liked it better at our old place, though. The kids loved playing around in the mansions, and we fixed it up over the time I've been there. I'll come visit, don't worry."

"I'll miss you, then. Promise you'll visit?" The dark-haired boy asked, and Riley gave him a nod. He contemplated something for a moment, and then got out of bed. He didn't feel dizzy anymore, and took the blonde's hand. "If you're leaving, I've got a goodbye present for you."

"Tommy said I should stay in bed until tomorrow, but I can tough it out. I like presents." Riley said as Jason helped her up. She leaned against him as they walked to the barn, the blonde limping alongside him. Ellie was grooming Pixie, and she flashed the pair a smile as they entered. The horse pricked her ears at the sight of her master and gave a friendly nicker.

"Hey, I wasn't expecting you guys here until tomorrow. What's up?" She queried, throwing them a curious look.

"Help me tack up Pixie." Jason said, allowing Riley to lean against a stall door. Ellie furrowed her brow, but obliged. In ten minutes, the horse was tacked up and ready for riding. Jason slipped the reins over the horse's head and led her over to Riley. He handed her the reins. "Pixie's yours now. Take good care of her for me."

The blonde's mouth worked for a moment, but nothing came out. Finally she stuttered, "R-really? Are you sure, I-I mean you love this horse. You've had her since she was a foal." Ellie stared, disbelief plain on her face as well.

Jason nodded. "I do love this horse, but I want you to have her. You know, as a replacement for Charlie. Please, I insist." He smiled as Riley threw her arms around his neck.

"I can't believe you're giving me your horse. Thank you, Blue Jay. I'll take the best care of her, I promise." The blonde vowed, pecking the boy on the cheek and taking the reins from him. Pixie followed the girl reluctantly, and Jason and Ellie followed the pair to the front gate. Members of Riley's group stood around, looking extremely out of place in their new environment. She noticed one of them hand Dale's bugle, and she asked the man if she could have it. The man handed it to her, and she blew it. A clear tone sounded from the instrument, making Pixie shy away from the loud noise. Jason steadied the horse before Riley could lose her balance. He helped her mount as more members of her settlement crowded around, and eventually the whole population was gathered around her.

"We're going home, guys! Let's move!" The blonde commanded, and she could see the relief on their dirt-streaked faces. Riley glanced over to Ellie, who had sidled up next to Jason. She smiled at the pair. "I know I put you through a whole load of shit, Ellie, and I apologize. I realize now that if you love something, you need to set it free. Jason did that to Pixie, and now I'm doing that to him in return. You make each other happy, and that makes me happy. Take care of Blue Jay for me…I now know he was never mine to keep." Her voice held a bit of pain, but it quickly faded.

"That's really noble of you, Riley. I appreciate it. I'll take good care of him, so you don't have to worry about this guy. Go on, your people are waiting for their new leader. Good luck." Ellie said sincerely as Riley waved them goodbye. Her group followed the Paint horse and into the forest out of sight.

"I think I'll miss that girl. Just a bit. She was starting to grow on me." Ellie commented as she headed back to the barn. Jason slung an arm around her shoulders, pulling her close.

"I'll miss her, too. And Pixie, as well. Is your dad still mad at me?" Jason asked, remembering the argument with Joel.

Ellie shrugged. "Naw, he got over me having a boyfriend after you got kidnapped."

Jason raised an eyebrow and smirked. "So I'm your boyfriend, now huh?"

The redhead giggled. "Yup. This time, I'm not letting you go." She smiled as stood on her toes to kiss the boy.

**The End**


End file.
